Strange Journey
by Phoenix Hoshika
Summary: Forced to transform into dragon form Ryu 18192 is almost immediately thrown into a dark portal that separates him from the ones he loves. Will he be able to stay sane long enough to find his way home or will he be lost forever?
1. Part I

Disclaimer: I am obviously not Capcom and therefore do not own Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter (If I did Lin would have a much better outfit and it would have a whole lot more cut scenes). Original characters and story/plot ideas, however belong solely, completely and ONLY to me.

Author's note:

This story focuses on Ryu, but is very OC (original character) centric and features some of the shorts chapters I have ever written, so I apologize for that in advance. For those of you wondering why I haven't updated my A Tiny Tale Of Time fiction this is basically why, I was too busy working on this one! Though I posted this story on my website the links to the chapters were hidden, only visible to people like Photosoph who went looking for them, so a big thanks to her for being the first one to read my story.

Strange Journey

by Phoenix Hoshika

Part I

Taiko sat on her bed looking out at the night sky as she leaned on the edge of her windowsill. "It's beautiful out there, isn't?" She asked the stuffed toy in her arms that resembled V-mon, a character from a popular anime series. _"I wish I could fly."_ Taiko thought as she closed the wind and laid down. "It would be awesome," she said closing her eyes.

The next morning she awoke to find what looked like a man with long sky blue hair leaning over her. "Aaaagh!" Taiko yelped as she rolled over onto her knees. "Who are you and what are you doing in my room?" She demanded despite being frightened half to death.

"You made a wish didn't you?" The man asked slightly smiling.

"I don't recall wishing for some pervert to try and molest me in my sleep."

The man fell over in shock. "Although, the thought had crossed my mind, that's not what I'm here for." He said to Taiko's disbelief.

"What did you just say?"

"I said I was only thinking about it."

"I have a black belt in karate you know!"

"I said I didn't do anything!"

"You were thinking about it!"

"Geez, admit to having one little fantasy and you're branded as a pervert."

"You said you were here for a specific purpose, spill it!" Taiko said as the man suddenly found himself with a knife to his throat.

"You are a violent one, aren't you?"

"Talk!" Taiko demanded her eyes ablaze.

"You made a wish, I'm here to grant it."

"Yeah, right." Taiko said taking the knife away. "You aren't a pervert after all, you're just plain crazy.

"Listen!" The man said waving his hand and as he did the knife disappeared. Taiko's eyes widened as she looked at her now empty hand.

"How did y-."

"Well, that's more like it." The man interrupted seeing that he now had the girl's full attention.

"I have a little power of my own so I'm not really the one granting your wish. I'm more like a vessel; however, before I grant you your wish I must ask you if you truly want it to come true. Once the wish is granted it can not be changed or reversed in any way and reality as you know it now will cease to exist. Are you certain you want this wish to come true?" He asked her his expression stark serious.

Taiko looked at him her expression turned furious. "I'm 16 years old living on my own, and I have no family my life is a virtual hell and you ask me if I truly want it to come true? Yes, I want it, every single little bit of it! I want my wish to come true!" Taiko yelled her voice somehow managing to echo off the walls of her tiny studio apartment.

The man sighed heavily. "So be it then." He said and Taiko felt herself grow faint.

_"I can't keep my eyes open," _was the last thought that went through her mind before she collapsed.

to be continued


	2. Part II

**Strange Journey**

**By Phoenix Hoshika**

**Part II**

Ryu lay asleep on the floor of the little hut that he, Lin and Nina had built some time after they had reached the surface. Before they had tried to find beds under willow trees, and found that mosquitoes and other biting bugs made their bed there as well and for a while settled for sleeping under the upon sky. That night was like many nights before. Despite having accomplished his goal of reaching the sky and saving Nina Ryu felt unrest inside himself that kept him awake long after his two companions had fallen asleep.

It was only a few minutes after sleep had finally taken him did Ryu's eyes suddenly open. He lay on his back in a cold sweet feeling his heart racing for what reason he didn't known until he looked toward the doorway of the hut. Ryu quickly sat up when he saw the familiar figure patiently waiting in the threshold. It turned and looked over its shoulder as if to say, "follow me." Ryu looked to his left at Lin who was still sleeping and then turned to Nina on his right who was sound asleep as well. Quietly standing Ryu rushed outside without making a sound. The figure had led him quite a distance from the hut before stopping.

"Origin!" Ryu shouted in a demanding tone.

"You're wondering why did I lead you so far away from your friends?" Elyon asked for him. "Maybe I planned sending one of my egos to destroy them while I took care of you personally."

Ryu's eyes narrowed as he drew his sword.

"_Yes, Ryu."_ Elyon thought. "Fight me!" With that Ryu charged at Elyon and swung his blade only to miss right before feeling a foot connect with his lower back knocking him to the ground. Elyon had used his alter ego to attack the young man from behind. Ryu quickly rose to his feet spiraling his blade. He was preparing to strike the double when he felt a hand firmly grasp his shoulder. "Strange, I can still sense Odjn's power within you, yet you choose to fight me in human form." Ignoring Elyon's words Ryu swung around only to have his sword connect with the wind yet again. "You know you'll never win in your present condition. If you take to long to defeat me I just might decide to kill them." Elyon said reappearing behind Ryu who turned around angrily. His body had started to resonate a fiery glow as he swung his sword aiming to mortally wound the half man half dragon.

"And yet you still hesitate." Elyon said blocking Ryu's attacks then disappeared again.

Ryu looked about in every direction as he tried to determine where Elyon would reappear to no avail. "Aaaaagh!" Ryu screamed as he felt a strong current of electricity going through his head from ear to ear. Elyon had rematerialized behind him and was holding his hands on either side of Ryu's head just shy of touching him.

"If you won't tell me, then I will have to find out by other means." He said as electricity flowed from his finger tips. "_Now, you will tell me, show me everything. What are you thinking?" _Elyon thought has he used his powers to search Ryu's mind.

"It's this power that keeps me alive, but I must never use it again." Ryu said seemingly to himself.

"Why?" Elyon asked appearing in the darkness which was the present state of Ryu's mind.

Ryu turned around seeming to be startled. "I can't." He repeated.

"Why not?" Elyon asked again taking a step closer. In an instant, images of Ryu's final battle against the dragon possessed Bosch seemed to stream by Elyon's eyes.

"Each time I used that power it seemed as if my life was draining away along with my humanity and it was. I didn't care if I lost myself in the end because by that time Nina would be free and my life would have ended along with my humanity."

Elyon shock his head. "_It doesn't have to be that way."_ He thought.

"But in the end Odjn gave me his power so that I could continue living. I think he knew that even though I was willing to die to save her I still wanted to be there to protect and watch over her. Now that I have this second chance I can't use that power ever again because even if it doesn't take my life it will claim my mind and I'm afraid of what I might do if I lost control of myself again." Ryu said as images of his first transformation into his dragon form played in mind. "If that happens again I may truly become a monster."

Elyon shook his head again. "_You lack control, this is true, but the only way to overcome this obstacle is for you to not be ashamed of what you are and embrace it." _Elyon closed his eyes as Ryu continued to debate with himself. "_You have no idea how heavily this world depends on your strength. If killing your friends, particularly the one you worked to hard to save, is the only way to get you to realize this then so be it. I will have to make good on my threat." _Elyon thought as he disconnected from Ryu's mind.

"Aaaaaagh!" Ryu screamed again as Elyon released him. Ryu fell to the ground holding his head as his body slowly begin to transform. "_I can't. I must defeat him on my own." _Ryu thought has a fought to keep his body from transforming.

Elyon stood patiently watching then closed his eyes. "_Perhaps, I have caused enough pain." _He thought as he saw Nina's face. "_Even if I were to kill them in your present state of mind, perhaps such action would only serve to drive you into madness. That is not my goal. Even as Origin I am not strong enough to protect this world. Fate has chosen you to carry this responsibility. If you are going to succeed in protecting this world you must first accept the full nature of what you are, Ryu. It seems all I have to do is push a little more." _Elyon thought as he opened his eyes and struck Ryu's body with a powerful electric bolt. The blast sent Ryu flying into a tree before it hit the ground.

Ryu lay on the ground panting heavily no longer able to keep the transformation at bay. As he stood his body was covered in a blinding light and the transformation took hold. In place of the dark haired young man stood a half man half dragon hybrid with silver hair and red eyes, his body illuminated by fire.

"Finally." Elyon said.

Ryu looked at the other dragon furiously. "I'll kill you!" He said just before moving across the field in a blink of an eye. Within a few seconds he was directly in front of Elyon who teleported out of the way just in time to miss a fury swipe from Ryu's claws.

"Even without the change in appearance, your personality takes on a transformation as well, doesn't it Ryu?" Elyon said opening his eyes and looking directly at his opponent.

Ryu stopped just as he was preparing to charge at Elyon again who had vanished only to reappear right behind him. "No, not it's not a change that occurs, it's more like it becomes unchecked." Ryu turned jumping away from him defensively. "Every impulse, every thought that crosses your mind you're one hundred times more likely to act upon them." Ryu growled as he prepared to use dragon's breath, his most powerful fire attack on Elyon who teleported flawlessly avoiding the attack. Ryu hit the ground as Elyon's fist connected with is chest.

"Ryu!" Lin's voice uttered loudly as she and Nina came upon the field the he and Elyon were fighting in shocked to so him in dragon form. Nina gasped as she came to a halt just behind her. Nina had woke up to find Ryu missing and had waken Lin up almost immediately, who insisted that the only male member of their little group had only gone to the bathroom. After waiting ten minutes while looking at the worried expression on Nina's face Lin finally agreed to go look for him.

Elyon looked up at the hill top at them then back down at Ryu who he was floating over, just out of reach. "It would do you no good to have friends accept you as you are, so I will send you to a place where you have no friends. I believe that's what it will take for you to truly accept your current state of being." Elyon said as he waved his arm. A black hole suddenly appeared and started to suck Ryu in who fought whole heartedly against it.

If she could Nina would have screamed "No!" as she and Lin rushed to her hero's aid.

"You're going to pay!" Lin shouted as she fired her gun only for the bullets to bounce harmlessly off of a force field the not only blocked Elyon from harm, but kept anything from entering the area he, Ryu and the black hole occupied. Elyon watched for only a minute as the two struggled against the force field then floated over to Ryu who was on the brink of being sucked into the hole.

"When you fully accept your entire state of being then the door will open for your return. Until then…" Elyon said striking Ryu in his chest with the palm of his hand. Ryu's eyes widened as he felt a strong jolt go through his body. Lin and Nina watched helplessly as their friend was consumed by the hole. "_Only time will tell if he shall return." _Elyon thought as he looked up at the two one last time before leaving.

to be continued


	3. Part III

**Strange Journey**

**By: Phoenix Hoshika**

**Part III**

_"My back hurts." _Taiko thought as she awoke at the edge of an open field. To her left was a thick forest of flowered trees and on her right a field filled with wild flowers. "How did I get all the way out here? And where am I?" Taiko asked out loud. Looking down at her clothes she gasped realizing she was no longer wearing the worn out faded pajamas she was wearing when she went to bed, instead she was wearing a sleeveless, short, white dress and tight black leggings and slippers. Then it hit her.

_"The man that was in my room last night, he must have done this! That pervert is going to regret not killing me while he had the chance." _Taiko thought as she aimlessly stomped off into the forest. "And what is this on my back!" She yelled reaching behind and pulling on something that felt feathery. Taiko's face distorted in pain when she realized whatever she had just yanked was connected to her back. Falling to the ground Taiko let out a small whimper. _"What's on my back?" _She thought as she rubbed the feathery object protruding from it. _"It's connected to me… it is me!" _Taiko thought as she could feel her hand on one of the six pixie-like wings that were now a part of her anatomy.

"Well, well, what a surprise." A familiar voice said. Taiko's eyes grew three times their size.

"I'm going to kill you!" Taiko said leaping at the man and knocking him down.

"Do you have any idea how much that hurt?" He asked after groaning pain.

"Shut up! What did you do to me?" Taiko demanded as she grabbed him by the collar lifting his head slightly. He looked up at her his expression grave for only a second.

"I warned you, didn't I?"

"Warned me? You warned me?" Taiko screamed shaking him.

"This is what you wanted and now that you have it you're angry? How does that saying go? Don't shoot the messenger?"

Taiko slammed the palms of her hands down on his chest putting all of her weight into the blow. "If you didn't change my clothes, drop me off in the middle of nowhere and did God only knows what else to me beside attach these things to my back then who did?"

"As much as I probably would have enjoyed doing all those things it wasn't me and as for the "things" on your back they're wings." The man stated as he started to laugh hysterically.

"What's the mater with you? What's so funny, you sick bastard!" Taiko demanded as she punched at his face only to have her fist connect with the unyielding ground when the man turned his head slightly. Normally that would have hurt but Taiko was so angry she couldn't feel a thing.

"You, you're hilarious. You tackle me to the ground and accuse me of doing "only God knows what" to you and yet here I am the one in the compromising position. You're the kind to push your actions off on others when you're the one that's really the pervert." The man said barely holding in the laughter toward the end of his state. Taiko froze feeling as if she really would kill him if she moved. "But that's okay." He said suddenly stopping in his laughter. "I don't mind." He said putting his hands on her thighs.

Taiko jumped to her feet slapping him, hard, with her injured hand. "I swear I'll break both of your legs!"

"What happened to killing me?" The man taunted as he stood and dusted himself off.

"I'd rather see you rot in prison, that is after I beat the hell out of you and haul you there myself!" Taiko said taking another swing at him. This time instead of moving he grabbed her wrist and pulled her in and caught hold of her other arm just as she was preparing to elbow him. Taiko motioned to stomp on his feet but the man used his height to his advantage and lifted her off the ground. It only took a matter of seconds for the man to gain the upper hand.

Taiko growled as she furiously struggled to no avail. "You're a lively one aren't you?" The man chuckled while keeping a tight grip on her. "Stop struggling and I'll put you down."

"Fine!" Taiko grudgingly agreed and the man put her back on her feet. Taiko spun around to face him her fists clenched at her sides.

"Don't tell me you're going to try and hit me again, are you? Are you ready to repeat what just happened so soon?"

"Ugh!" Taiko groaned in frustration, her wings flaring out aggressively.

"Listen, I didn't do anything to you, believe it or not. You made a wish for those "things" on your back and it came true. You also made a wish to be here. Reality as you once knew has ended. You better adjust to how things are now real soon or you could end up loosing your mind."

Taiko didn't say a word; she only nodded in response and proceeded to walk past him.

"Where are you going?" The man asked only to have Taiko spin around and punch him so hard in the chest he ended up on his behind and sliding a couple of feet. "Damn it, that hurt." The man uttered putting his hand to his chest. When he looked up Taiko was gone. He then smiled. "This is going to be fun." He uttered still feeling the throbbing pain in his abdomen.

Taiko ran through the forest, barely making a sound as her feet would periodically lift off the ground whenever her wings caught a strong breeze. She finally stopped running when her foot got caught under a raised tree root. "Ow!" Taiko exclaimed when she used her hands to brace her fall. _"My wrist is throbbing and now on top of that my ankle is sprung as well." _Taiko thought looking down at her leg as she cradled her arm. Hearing a rustling she jerked her head up to see what had caused the noise and when she did she saw what seemed to be a man. The creature had silvery white hair and horns on the left and right sides of his head that curved around in halo fashion, close to his skull. He seemed to be wearing nothing more than a pair of tattered pants and his neck, fore arms, hands, calves, and feet wear covered in thick red scales. His hands and feet had large claws that looked capable of tearing a large animal in half with one swipe. Horn like ridges protruded from his back, but they were out of Taiko's eyeshot since he was facing her. A small gasp escaped her lips when his red eyes met her brown ones (at least they were brown the night before). The creature's eyes were piercing as if they could destroy whomever they looked upon with a glance.

"Hey! Don't run off like that!" The man said catching up to her. Taiko turned around to see him gliding through the trees on wings similar to her own. "It's dangerous out here." He said landing beside her. Taiko ignored him as she looked around the area to find what she perceived to be a person gone. "I'm taking you home." The man said picking her up and cradling her in his arms.

"I'd rather stay out here and rough it in the woods than go back to that hole of an apartment I live in so put me down." Taiko demanded.

"Well no need to worry, I'm taking you to my home."

"No you're not!" Taiko said leaping out of his arms and painfully landing on her feet.

"And here I was worried about all the strange wild creatures you would encounter out here if I just let you wonder off on you own; you seem to be more dangerous to yourself than they would ever be to you. How did you manage to twist you ankle in such a short time?"

Taiko frowned. "Shut up!" She said and attempted to walk away only to find herself limping instead.

The man sighed as he shook his head just before gliding over to Taiko and picking her up once again. "Sleep," he said dropping what looked like glittery sand onto her face. Taiko immediately fell unconscious. "I'm sorry but we have a ways to go and I'm not in the mood to fight with you all the way there. Maybe once you've calmed down you'll listen to me." The man said as he took to the sky.

A few hours later Taiko awoke in a rather large bed. At first she was just going to roll over and go back to sleep, but remembered that the bed in what used to be her apartment was never this huge or comfortable. Taiko shot up when she saw that someone was sitting beside her. "You..," She said seeing the man, as far as she was concerned, responsible for turning her world upside down.

"Please, listen." The man said his expression reflecting the serious tone of his voice. "It rarely happens but every once in a while a wish is granted to one person and one person only."

Taiko was fuming, but seeing how she had no choice but to humor the man she did. "How long is every once and in a while?"

"One person is granted their heart's desire at the end of each millennium."

"What?" Taiko exclaimed and as she did her wings spread out.

"You have no idea how many people exist in this universe or how many wish on stars or chant rhymes hoping that the desires of their heart will be fulfilled." The man said as he stood and started to pace. "You were fortunate enough to have this gift bestowed upon you out of all the countless billions that exist… Are you regretting it?" He asked looking heavily upon her.

Taiko turned her face from him as she thought. _"I made a wish for this to happen? Is he serious? It would make no sense to believe him, but how else can these be explained?" _Taiko asked herself as she looked over her shoulder at the three sets of wings on her back that sudden started flapping and as they did they made a humming sound that would normally be heard when a bumble bee or another insect flew by. Taiko gasped as she felt her body lifting off of the bed. She grabbed the sheets in an effort to anchor herself, but only pulled them up with her. Realizing that Taiko had no control of her new appendages the man rushed over and pulled her back down onto the bed.

"You're going to have to learn to control those things unless you want to end up flying yourself over an ocean." The man said as he held onto her legs.

"How," Taiko asked as her wings beating even faster pulling her body and the man's up into the air. In a last effort to keep Taiko grounded the man yanked her legs practically slamming her down onto the bed. Taiko's eyes swirled when she hit the mattress. "Was that necessary?" She asked sitting up.

"Sorry about that. At the rate you were going you would have carried us both off and I'm not to keen on the idea of bashing my head against the ceiling." He said pointing up at the jagged rocks that hung above them. Taiko gasped. "You'll just have to practice if you want to get better control over them." The man said fluttering about. "But, here wouldn't be such a good place, for obvious reasons." He said smiling.

"You said before that reality as I knew it had ended, does that mean I can never return to where I came from?"

"I'm afraid not, but aren't your relieved? That's what you wished for after all, isn't it?"

Taiko closed her eyes suddenly remembering a night some months ago when she wished she had wings and was far away from where she was living. The truth of the matter is she had wished she wasn't even on Earth anymore. "So, this is really happening, I'm not dreaming or hallucinating?"

"Would you like me to pinch you?" The man asked mischievously as he landed in front of her.

"Ew, no, get away from me." Taiko said pushing him back. "Look, I'm sorry about before. Thanks for watching out for me back in the woods even though I was a jerk." Taiko said as she started to walk past him to the door only to be pulled back.

"You're apology was unneeded." The man said his expression serious once again.

"I'm glad one of us is easy going." Taiko replied as she tried to leave again, but the man would not let her go. "What are you doing?" Taiko asked starting to panic.

"Don't worry I promise not to hurt you nor will I do anything indecent to you, but I can not let you leave."

"Why?" Taiko demanded trying to yank her arm away.

"Please understand, you're the first person I've had contact with in a very long time, I won't let you leave me here alone."

Taiko looked into his eyes a deep dark shade of blue that was so deep it almost hid the pain he felt caused by being alone for so long. "How long have you been here?"

"Too long," the man answered as he turned her loose. "Now stay off that leg for a while. I'll come back with dinner later, so for now get comfortable; you'll be here for a while."

"How long is a while?" Taiko asked as the man turned to leave.

"A few hundred years at the least, either way it's only a drop in the bucket compared to how long I've been here."

"I already don't like you, what good will it do you to keep me here if I come to truly hate you?" Taiko asked her voice becoming shrill.

The man paused keeping his back turned and replied, "It doesn't matter if you hate me or if you love me. As long as there is another person around I don't care, even if you spent all of your time trying to kill me, it doesn't matter, at least you're here." The man said as he stepped out of the door.

"At least tell me who you are, I don't even know you're name."

"My name? I don't remember my name. Call me whatever you want." He said then closed the door locking Taiko inside.

_"He can't be serious." _Taiko thought dropping to her knees. _"Three hundred years? People don't even live that long."_

_"Reality as you once knew has ended. You better adjust to how things are now real soon or you could end up loosing your mind."_

"This is really happening…" Taiko said as she remembered what the man had told to her just moments before. _"He said he wouldn't hurt me, but to keep me locked in here like this, even if he doesn't do anything to me besides keep me in this stone prison, this is not the life I want to live. I wished for wings so I could fly away from things that held me down and now that I have them I can't even use them. I'm certainly not on planet Earth anymore, but is this prison better than the one I was in before?"_

to be continued


	4. Part IV

Strange Journey

By Phoenix Hoshika

Part IV

A black hole suddenly opened up in the middle of a forest and Ryu's unconscious body, still in dragonized form, was dumped out of it onto the forest floor. It was the middle of the next morning before he groggily regained consciousness. Standing up Ryu removed some twigs and flower petals that had gotten tangled in his hair. _"Where am I?" _He thought looking around wildly. "Nina! Lin!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. Rushing through the forest he came to a small clearing and called out the names of his two companions once again before rushing through what seemed like an endless maze of trees. He came to a stop and let out a blood curdling roar as his thoughts became jumbled. All he could remember were the words Elyon had spoken to him before he was pushed into the black hole that sent him to his present location.

_"…I will send you to a place where you have no friends."_

_"I'm alone? I'm here alone?" _Ryu thought as he started to run through the forest for a third time hoping to come upon familiar surroundings, but the more he ran the more unfamiliar the terrain became. _"So, this really is someplace… far away." _Ryu thought as he glided through the trees. _"So, how far did he send me? I don't even think I'm in the same world anymore." _Ryu thought as he slowed down and started walking. _"I didn't know the dragons had that kind of power." _He thought looking down at his hands.

"Odjn." Ryu uttered as he looked up at the sky. A cloud quickly rolled by covering the sun and a breeze blew knocking flower petals from the trees. As quickly has his thoughts had came back into focus they again became jumbled. Ryu became still as he heard something approaching. He listened as the footsteps stopped. Just a few yards away he could see what looked like a woman with three sets of wings fall hard onto the ground. He carefully started to approach her, but stopped when she looked up at him. A strange feeling came over him as he looked at her. Blinking as if waking up from a dream Ryu heard something else approaching and jumped up into a heavily leafed tree so that he would be out of sight. Ryu sat on the highest branch watching what looked like a man with similar wings appear and the two started arguing. Despite the fact the other winged creature looked the same age as the female Ryu could some how tell that he was much, much older and at first assumed that it was a father and daughter arguing, but as he watched it became clear that was not the case. Jumping out of the tree Ryu dashed over to the couple, but before he could reach them they were air borne and out of sight leaving Ryu looking helplessly up into the sky.

_"Where did they go? And why do I feel this way?" _Ryu thought as he felt a very strong twinge of jealousy, an emotion so foreign to the young dragon he couldn't even tell what it was and it scared him. _"What should I do?" _Ryu thought as he stared at the ground. After a moment Ryu took off in the direction he thought he saw them go in before they disappeared out of eye shot.

For three weeks Ryu traveled relentlessly searching for the two winged creatures. He was about to change directions for the fourth time since he set out on his quest when he heard a scream. It sounded like it was saying something, but that mattered not to Ryu at that moment, hearing the scream he had immediately sped off into the direction from which it came. Finally coming out of the forest Ryu came upon a huge clearing and in the middle of it was castle. Ryu had never seen such buildings and for a second he stopped and gaped at it in wonder before refocusing on his mission. Flames poured from his body as he cut across the clearing somehow the fire resonating from his body not burning the grass beneath his feet. As he ran on the air just above the ground Ryu's thoughts became disconnected. Reaching the castle walls he struck into the stone with his right hand then the left as he climbed upward. Nearing the top he jumped high into the air and landed on his hands and feet on the floor of the balcony that belonged to the highest tower. Standing he turned his head and saw what he had came for, but the man with wings darted before him blocking his path. Ryu quickly knocked him away, but the man came back attempting to stab him. The attack had no effect on the dragon, but annoyed him none the less. Ryu knocked the winged man away a second time. As the man spoke to him Ryu came out his haze and watched him as he staggered back over to where he and the girl were standing.

_"Why is he… that's right, I hit him." _Ryu thought as he watched the injured man come to stand beside the young woman.

"Take her!" The man said pushing the girl so hard she collided with Ryu.

_"What's this?" _Ryu thought as he looked down at her back and saw that it was covered in a hardened yellowish substance. _"What did he do to you?" _Ryu thought as he removed it. Looking at the man Ryu's thoughts begin to turn violent. Before his mind could go into another haze Ryu picked the girl up and started to leave.

"Wait!" He heard the man call out.

_"Why does he insist on making things difficult?" _Ryu thought as he struggled to keep his mind in check.

…To Be Continued…


	5. Part V

**Strange Journey**

By: Phoenix Hoshika

Part V

_"Three weeks, it's been three whole weeks. I can't believe I've been locked in this room almost an entire month." _Taiko thought idly as she lay on her bed looking up at the ceiling then sighed. _"I'm getting out of here." _Taiko thought as she sat up and walked out onto the balcony and looked up before going over to the edge and taking a look down. "I would be on the highest tower." Taiko said taking a step back. "But if birds can do it so can I," She said preparing to take a leaping jump off of the balcony, that is until she felt something gooey being splattered over her back. Taiko shuddered as another blotch hit her back.

"I'm sorry, but I can't have you jumping of buildings." The man said.

Taiko turned around to see him holding a wooden spatula and a small bucket filled with yellowish goo.

"What did you just put on me?" Taiko demanded as she touched her back to find that whatever he had thrown on her had hardened and was keeping her from moving her wings.

"Don't worry; it's nothing that won't wash off."

"Get this crap off of me now, Jon!"

"Jon? Not Jonathan? Should I take the shortening of the name you gave me as a term of endearment?"

"Don't flatter yourself; Jon is just easier to yell." Taiko said as she scratched at the hardened goo on her back.

"Wash off huh? How's that when this junk won't even peel off?"

"Oh, it will with a special agent I keep in my room… in a drawer next to my bed." The man said smiling to Taiko's enragement.

"Get out! Get out now!"

"So, soon? We haven't even had our first meal of the day together."

"Seeing how you plan on keeping me in this prison indefinitely what's one skipped meal?"

"I really wish you wouldn't refer to my home as a prison, it makes me very uncomfortable."

"I suppose it won't be a prison for you seeing how you can leave whenever you want!"

"Even if let you go exactly where would you go? Find yourself a nice little town to live in? I'd hate to burst your bubble, but there are no towns on this world, in fact the only people living on this entire planet are you and me."

"So, why plaster this gunk on me to keep me from flying away?"

"Even if I were to remove the glue, seeing how you're no closer to controlling your wings than you were three weeks ago all you'd be doing is committing suicide. Second, for someone who was trained to fight you're pathetic."

"What!"

"There may be no other people around, but this world is full of dangerous wild creatures that are terribly strong. The way you fight you wouldn't stand a chance."

"Okay, I only said I was a black belt in karate to hopefully intimidate you. I may not be trained in any kind of martial arts, but you saw where I used to live. Do you honestly think I could have survived there without knowing how to fight?"

"Even so you're too weak. Without good fighting skills and a bit more muscle those animals would tear you to shreds with one strike. So, for your own safety please stay in the castle." The man said as he left the room.

"As if I had a choice! Jon! Jon! Get back here you bastard!" Taiko screamed, but there was no reply. Taiko ran back inside and punched the solid oak door with her injured hand. "Ack, damnit," Taiko cursed as she cringed in pain. "JONATHAN!"

"Sheesh, you sure can scream awfully loud." The man said suddenly appearing behind her.

"So, are you a masochist or something?"

"What are you talking about?" Taiko asked holding her arm to her chest protectively.

"I can see through walls you know. I saw you punch that door. It will never heal if you keep treating it that way."

"Blow it out your butt."

"Must you be so vulgar?"

"Leave me alone." Taiko said leaning against the wall and sliding down into a seated position.

"Leave, come back, leave. What do you want me to do, Taiko?"

"Leave." Taiko said closing her eyes.

"You're scheming on another escape plan aren't you?"

"And what if I were?"

"As long as it doesn't involve jumping I don't care, either way you'll be wasting your time. Even if you do manage to get out all you'll end up doing is coming right back here once you realize there really is no one beside you and me on this planet."

Taiko's eyes snapped open. "I don't believe you."

"I'm not making it up. If that was the case I'd have servants to cook and clean for me instead of doing it myself."

"You lock me in some abandoned castle and then try to get me to believe that no other people exist anywhere on the face of this planet, how dumb do you think I am?"

"No, I never thought you were dumb, but you obviously have some trust issues. You'll see for yourself sooner or later." Just as the man finished speaking a loud roar could be heard echoing just outside the room door.

"What was that?" Taiko asked sweat dropping.

"Hmph, I can't believe it came all the way up here."

"What was that?" Taiko repeated a little more agitated.

"Oh, just one of my pets."

"Pets?"

"Yes, I have a few dozen wild animals running around the castle, just for fun."

"Just to make sure I don't get out you mean."

"Don't misunderstand, I can keep you here on my own, those animals are just here for my amusement. Besides that if you can somehow get past me then my pets shouldn't be a problem."

The next noise they heard was the sound of something coming up the wall of the castle. "What in the world is that?" The man uttered as he ran out onto the balcony. Looking down he saw a creature in the form of a man using its claws to climb up the wall. _"What in the world is this?" _The man asked himself. He was telling Taiko the truth; they really were the only people on the planet. Long ago the man had made a wish; he wanted to fly and live in a castle far far away from any other people. His wish had come true and for over a millennium he had been living on that very planet by himself with only the wild, untamable animals to keep him company. He had seen everything in the world he had come to call home and knew for a fact that no such creature as the one he was currently looking upon existed anywhere on that planet.

"What's going on?" Taiko asked following him outside.

"Something's coming up the wall." The man said running back over to Taiko who was still standing in the doorway. No sooner did he say those words the creature had leaped high into the air and landed on the balcony on all fours. As it stood it looked directly at the man then its gaze shifted to Taiko and lingered there. The man watched observantly as the creature stared at her.

"I don't know what or who you are, but you're not taking her away from here." The man said stepping in front of Taiko. "I take it you are familiar with this creature?" The man said to Taiko.

"What makes you think that?"

"It obviously came here to get you. It must have followed us through the portal from your planet. No creatures like this exist here."

"I already told you I have no idea who he is!"

"He? Are you sure about that? You speak as if you're certain it's a person." The man said drawing a sword out of thin air and as he did so the creature swiped at him with its claws. The hit connected with his sword, but the blow was still powerful enough to push him aside. The man slid across the balcony. "You're strong." He said after coming to a halt.

Taiko stood frozen as she beheld the creature before her for a second time. _"So, you were real." _She thought as she stared at him.

"Nice try." The man said charging sword first at the creature. His blade connected, but didn't even make a scratch. "What are you?" The man asked just before his sword was knocked from his hands and he found himself flying across the balcony once again this time hitting the wall.

Taiko's blood froze as the creature turned and looked at her. _"Am I going to die? Oh, God please let it be quick." _Taiko thought as she closed her eyes.

"You, you're determined to take this girl from me aren't you?" The man said as he staggered over to them. "Fine, take her!" The man said pushing Taiko into him. The creature caught her and made a low growl as he glared at the man. Despite her nervousness Taiko's body was too paralyzed by fear to shake as she felt the creature's claws against her back.

_"What? What's he doing to me?" _Taiko thought as she felt her back grow warm. After a few minutes the glue had melted away and evaporated. _"I can move my wings again." _Taiko thought looking up into the creature's face. It then picked her up and was walking over to the edge of the balcony when the man called out.

"Wait," he said causing the creature to turn around.

"I said you could take her, but not before you tell me what you are and more importantly why are you so bent on taking that girl?" The creature just growled at him and continued to walk away.

"So Taiko, you rather be carried off by some wild animal than stay here with me?" The creature stopped moving and flames burst from the horn like ridges on his back. "I'll take that to mean what I said insulated you. Now that I have your attention do you now mind telling me what a monster wants with a human girl?" After carefully putting Taiko down on her feet the creature begin to slowly walk over to the man. Before he reached him an animal that looked like a mix between a bull and a rhino crashed through the bedroom goring the man with the horn on its nose. The animal shook the man off and charged toward the creature and Taiko. With one clean swipe of his claws the creature nearly ripped the animal in half.

"Jon!" Taiko shouted seeing the man sit up despite the gaping hole in his body. "Jon…" Taiko said kneeling beside him. It was true she couldn't stand him, but not once had she ever wished him dead.

"Strange, I thought I was lonely when what I really wanted was to die." The man said looking up at Taiko and smiling. "You and your new friend should get out of here. Those things explode when you kill them."

"You're coming too." Taiko said moving to pick him up.

"Stop, I've lived long enough."

"But, why do you have to die like this?"

"It doesn't matter to me, now get out of here." The man said with his final breath. The next thing Taiko knew the creature had grabbed her and was jumping off the balcony. Her eyes widened has they rushed toward the ground.

_"Fly, fly, fly." _Taiko thought as she concentrated on flapping her wings fast enough to get her and the creature air born. Half way down an explosion shook the tower and rocks came falling down. Taiko was able to get her wings moving just in time to fly out of the way of the falling debris.

_"Jon." _Taiko thought as she looked back at the castle. She had only known him for a short time, but in that time she had grown to somewhat understand his desperation and had felt a little sorry for him. The castle quickly went out of eyeshot as they zoomed across the sky.

…To Be Continued…


	6. Part VI

**Strange Journey**

**By Phoenix Hoshika**

**Part VI**

Ryu didn't say a word as he and the young woman sailed across the sky. From the expression on her face it seemed she was concentrating rather hard on keeping afloat and at their height he was worried saying something to her might break that concentration and they would plummet to the earth. Though in dragonized form Ryu had an extraordinarily high threshold for injury and pain he was not too eager to find out exactly how far those limits could be pushed so he kept his mouth shut and didn't move an inch as she carried him. It was a while before he allowed himself to slowly turn his head to look down. He watched as they flew rather fast over the birds and clouds. After a few minutes this only served to make him nervous so he faced forward again. His eyes widened as he felt her arms loosen around his waist then tighten again. From the look on her face Ryu was pretty certain she was asleep, but could not be 100 percent sure since her eyes were still very much open.

"Miss Taiko?" Ryu uttered nervously, but received no response. "Miss Taiko?" Ryu said again and what he was dreading the most happened. Taiko's wings stopped moving and they started to fall and as they did Ryu's mind went into a thoughtless slumber. Using Dragon's Breath Ryu was able to slow their fall enough so that they landed on their feet, however for about a mile the land around them was charred to a crisp.

"_Gotta keep going, gotta keep going." _Taiko thought as she fought to stay airborne. Though she had managed to get into the sky she had no clue how to land. Looking down and finding that she had somehow flown over the troposphere caused her heart to race with worry at the thought of what might happen if she tried to touch the ground. Seeing a mountain in the distance Taiko flew as fast as she knew how to reach it thinking that landing on a mountain would be safer than trying to land thousands of feet below; however, the mountain was further away than she realized and after some hours of flying Taiko was becoming extremely exhausted.

"_He's heavy." _Taiko thought looking down at the young dragon who looked back up at her. "_He looks like he wants to say something. Probably wondering, why doesn't this dummy land already?" _Taiko thought as she kept her gaze focused on the mountain. "_You see, I'd love to, but I'm new to this flying thing and I'm afraid if I try to land that we'll just end up making a mess on the ground. Don't worry it will all be over soon. You were nice enough to bust me out of that prison so once I get the hang of this flying thing I could give you a lift back to your home. It would be convenient if your home was in that mountain over there…" _Taiko thought as she started dreaming the mountain she was headed toward contained a village of beings that looked similar to the one she was carrying. Taiko was so far gone she didn't hear him call her name or realize that she was on the ground when she woke up.

They had just landed when Taiko's eyes slowly started to open. Still half asleep and believing that they were still in the air. Taiko tightened her arms around his waist and started screaming. "I'm sorry! We're gonna die!" She had even come to tears as she braced herself for a sudden death impact that would never happen. Feeling the charred ground beneath her feet Taiko opened her eyes and sweat dropped. "Oh." She uttered as she lifted her head from Ryu's shoulder, who had unconsciously hugged her in an effort to calm her down, and looked around. Her face turned beat red from embarrassment. "Sorry about that." Taiko said avoiding eye contact.

Waking up from his trance Ryu looked at Taiko with concern. "Are you okay?" He asked as Taiko removed her arms from around him. She looked as if she was going to answer, but her expression went completely blank and the color drained from her face.

In all the commotion it totally went unnoticed, but as Taiko loosed her grasp on the dragon she noticed that the series of scales that ran down his body from the waist to the knees were in fact not pants, but his skin.

"_He's naked!" _ Taiko thought, her heart nearly stopping. After taking a few wobbly steps back Taiko finally answered his question. "I'm fine." She said abruptly turning her back to him.

"And your wrist and ankle how are they doing?" Ryu asked taking notice of the bandages around her left ankle and right wrist.

"Ummm, it's nothing just a couple of sprains." Taiko answered nervously.

"You're arm…"

"Huh?" Taiko said turning around then back again. "What? What, do you mean?"

"It looks swollen."

"_Yes, I have been rough on it." _Taiko thought as she cradled it. "_It would be doing much better, like my ankle, if I had taken better care of it."_

"Let me take a look at it."

"No!" Taiko hastily answered. "I mean, no, I can take care of it myself. Thank you for your help back there."

"You're welcome." Ryu answered.

"Well good bye." Taiko said feeling his eyes on her back. "I'd offer to fly you back to your home or something, but as you can see I'm no good at it, so you'd be better off walking." Taiko said shortly wishing she could show more gratitude. "Well, see you around." Taiko said keeping her back turned.

"Right. Good bye then." Ryu said then turned to walk away when he heard something fall heavily to the ground.

"Miss Taiko." Ryu said rushing over to her to find that she was fast asleep. Picking her up Ryu begin walking northeast in hopes of finding other people.

By the time Taiko woke up it was the middle of the night. Judging from the soft orange light and warmth Taiko thought she was by a fire. When she realized she was actually laying on the ground in front of Ryu lap she was on her feet and had was two arms lengths away from him in a matter of seconds. Taiko panicked when she saw the flames emanating from his claws and back. "YOU'RE ON FIRE!" Taiko yelled franticly. Then she grabbed up a huge pile of snow and would have dumped it on him if he had not said anything.

"No, it's okay." Ryu said turning off the flames. "See?" He said smiling.

"Taiko dropped the snow and looked at him wide eyed. "How did you… When did you learn how to… How did you do that?" Taiko stammered.

"Not sure, I just can."

Taiko took a step back as Ryu came closer to her. "What's wrong?" He asked noticing her finicky behavior.

"_Should I just say it or should I just keep my mouth shut?"_ Taiko thought as she looked at the snow covered ground and trees then shivered. "So, when did all this happen?" Taiko asked continuing to shiver.

"Just within the hour, The sky became dark and all this fluffy ice fell down."

"Fluffy ice?" Taiko grinned. "You talk like someone who's been underground all their life." Ryu hung his head and Taiko gasped realizing that he actually had been.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I mean I didn't know." Taiko said grabbing his hand.

"It's okay." Ryu said raising his gaze to meet hers.

"What is it?" Taiko asked noticing the quizzical look on his face.

"What do you call this fluffy ice then?"

"Snow."

"Ah!" Ryu said running over to a pile of snow and unearthing some planets. "And these, what are these?" He asked bringing them to her.

"Those are flowers." Taiko asnswered still shivering.

"Flowers…" Ryu repeated looking down at the planets he had pulled up by their roots remembering how Nina loved weaving them into her hair. "And you, what are you Miss Taiko?" He asked looking up at her.

"Miss… Taiko?"

"That isn't your name?"

"Well yes it is, but without the Miss." Taiko said rubbing her hands together. "_I can't stand it when people call me Miss, but for some reason it sounds cute when he says it." _Taiko thought blushing. "_What the heck is wrong with me?"_ She thought beratingly.

"Are you alright, Taiko?" Ryu asked putting the dead flowers down from where he got them.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Taiko answered trying not to shiver. "_Just a little cold."_

"You're not cold?" Ryu asked walking over to her.

"Actually I am." Taiko chuckled. "_I'm freezing!"_

"Sorry." Ryu said as his body once again became illuminated by the flames coming from his hands, feet and back. "Does this help?"

"Yes, it helps a lot!" Taiko answered sighing with relief as she kneeled down by a pile of snow. "This is your first time seeing snow right?"

"Yes."

"Here have a snow ball." Taiko said handing him a small ball of snow that melted as soon as it touched his hands. "Oh, dear. Here, try this, open your mouth." Taiko said cheerfully.

"You want me to eat it? Are you sure it isn't polluted?"

"Polluted?" Taiko said looking up at the clear sky and thinking of the smoggy city she once lived in. "No, I don't think it's polluted at all." She said making another small snow ball then eating it. "In fact I think it's much cleaner than the snow is where I come from. I always wanted to try this, but the water was too polluted in my world so I never did. This can be a first experience for both of us." Taiko stated then made another snow ball. "Now open wide."

"Right." Ryu said closing his eyes and opening his mouth. His eyes snapped open when he felt a huge ball of snow being stuffed into it.

"I'm sorry." Taiko chuckled. I couldn't help myself. You opened your mouth so wide I'm sure a train could have fit into it."

Ryu sweat dropped then swallowed. "Was it really that big?"

"Huh? No, way, but it was wide enough for me to see down into your throat that's for sure." Taiko continued to tease and Ryu sweat dropped again. "Hey don't over react. I did say 'open wide' after all."

"Right…" Ryu said still feeling self conscious. "So, Taiko the water and the snow that fell by that large building was polluted?"

"You mean the castle? No you misunderstood. I said where I come from."

"You're not from this world either?" Ryu asked perplexed.

"No, and you?" Taiko asked and Ryu shook his head. "Then what he told me was true…" Taiko sighed.

"The other one with wings? What did he say?"

"It was right before he died, he told me that there were no other people on this planet, that we were the only two. Of course when I saw you I was certain he was lying but now…"

"Well if I ended up here and you ended up here, then maybe other people some how have ended up here." Ryu said hopefully.

"I don't think so." Taiko said causing an awkward silence to fall between them before she spoke again. "But you said you just got here right? So, there must be a way off of this rock! So, how did you do it?"

"Huh?"

"How did you get here?"

"I was hoping you'd tell me how you got here."

"I don't know how I got here cuz that bastard, God rest his soul, knocked me out and the next thing you know I was waking up in the forest somewhere. Don't tell me _that's_ what happened to you too?"

"I was pushed through a hole."

"What!" Taiko exclaimed.

"I was pushed through a hole." Ryu repeated shaking his head. "After that I don't remember a thing except for waking up here."

"…Oh…" Taiko said falling silent. "_Damnit!_ _How did that pampas jerk get me here? If I knew that then maybe I could figure out a way to leave." _Taiko thought as she heard the roar of some strange beast in the distance. Not thinking Taiko grabbed Ryu. _"I can't believe I just hugged a naked guy." _Taiko thought realizing what she just did.

"Don't worry about it. If something attacks us I'll take care of it." Ryu assured in an effort to calm the frightened girl.

"_Great, now he thinks I'm a coward."_ Taiko thought stepping away from him. "Listen I'm not scared it just surprised me is all."

"Okay." Ryu smiled as he sat on the ground. He knew she was lying. He couldn't explain it but somehow Ryu could smell the fear radiating from her so thick he could almost tasted it. Usually being able to sense such a thing from other people disturbed him because usually he was the thing they were afraid and wanted to destroy for that reason, that is, if it was possible to destroy the destroyer. When Taiko clung to him for that brief moment Ryu felt almost human again, something he hadn't felt in a long time. Even when not in dragonized form ever since Ryu merged with the dragon Odjn he could feel the giant rift that existed between him and normal people. For a moment he wondered if it was because Taiko was not human herself the reason she wasn't afraid of him. Either way he couldn't help, but smile at the fact that for once he was being treated as a person and not a monster.

"Stop laughing, I wasn't scared." Taiko protested

"Alright." Ryu said still grinning.

"Look you." Taiko said kneeling down in front of him with a serious look on her face then sighed. "What is your name anyway?"

Ryu only smiled. Maybe the sudden noise in the dead of night had frightened her, but he could honestly believe she wasn't much afraid of anything else by the way she was staring him down. Not Lin or even Nina would come anywhere within arms' reach of him while he was in dragonized form, but this girl had carried him half way across the sky and was closer to him then he thought any person would dare come.

"You're weird." He said laying down on his side his back still ablaze.

"Huh?" Taiko thought debating on whether or not to be angry by the comment, but put it aside when she noticed he was trying to go to sleep. "Hey! Don't go to sleep. I asked what your name is." Taiko demanded.

"Ryu… 1/8192." He answered falling asleep.

"Huh?" Taiko uttered. "_What kind of a name is that? 1/8192…is he a convict or something… a soldier maybe?" _Taiko thought as she looked down at him and sighed again. "_I'll ask him in the morning." _She then stood and laid down on the ground about five feet away from him. A few minutes later Taiko heard another roar and shot up.

Ryu opened his eyes when he felt something blocking the air in front of him. "Taiko?"

"Okay, some things freak me out, but I'm not scared." Taiko said laying down again. "And besides it's too cold over there."

"Right.' Ryu said trying to mask a giggle.

"Stop laughing." Taiko groaned.

"I can't help it you're so funny.' Ryu said laughing out loud. He honestly found it amusing that Taiko was afraid of the noises in the dark more than she was of him, especially since he was afraid of himself. Unable to return to human form he was afraid he'd go into another trance and possibly kill the girl who had so easily befriended him. Even so, that was a fear he kept to himself, hidden in the back of his mind under a veil of denial stubbornly believing he would never do such a thing based upon the fact that he had never hurt Lin or Nina, but as much as they stayed away from him while in dragonized form he stayed away from them believing if he didn't he would hurt them regardless. _"I don't want to believe that I'm really capable of being that kind of monster." _Ryu thought resting his hand on Taiko's shoulder to confirm with himself that every living he came into physical contact with didn't die some horrible death.

"What is it?" Taiko asked opening her eyes when she felt the scaly hand against her skin. The touch had startled her out of the slumber she had slipped into a few seconds before.

"….it's nothing. I'm sorry." Ryu said hesitantly.

Taiko didn't believe it was nothing, but let it go in hopes of finally getting a genuine good night's rest, even if it was on the cold unyielding ground, because for once she felt she could actually close her eyes and not worry about anything.

…To Be Continued…


	7. Part VII

**Strange Journey**

**By Phoenix Hoshika**

**Part VII**

Taiko was the first to awaken the next morning. _"This has to look really wrong." _Taiko thought as she pushed Ryu's arm from around her waist then sat up. "Ryu, wake up." Taiko said shaking him. Still asleep Ryu made a slight growling sound and continued to sleep. Taiko sweat dropped. _"I think I'm just going to leave him alone." _She thought slowly backing away from him. As soon as she was a body's length away she sprinted off to find some water.

After taking a bath in a nearby stream Taiko went to find some food for herself and the dragon she had left sleeping on the forest floor. Searching around for nearly an hour Taiko finally came upon a tree that bared fruit. Despite the fact she was certain there were dangerous animals roaming around Taiko had not run into even a small bird. Not questioning her luck she climbed the tree, still afraid to use her wings instead, and began quickly picking the fruit.

_"It's weird. This place was covered in snow just last night and now it's like it never happened." _Taiko thought as she dropped the fruit to the ground. Hearing snarling coming from her left side the thin feathers of her wings stood on end. On top of the menacing sound Taiko could feel the warm breath of something on her shoulder, slowly turning to see what was beside her Taiko fell out of the tree when she saw the head of a creature that had red eyes, sharp long yellow teeth, and pointed ears. The creature was covered in short black fur and stood as nearly as tall as the tree and looked like what she thought a demon would. Taiko lay on the ground in pain for only a second after the fall. The impact had knocked the wind out of her, but nothing was broken. The creature swiped at Taiko with one of its massive claw covered hands only missing her by a hair as she did a backwards flip onto her feet to get out of the way. Taiko could feel her insides burning as the adrenaline rushed through her veins. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out how to out run the giant monster, but all she could hear were two words running repeatedly through her thoughts.

"BIG BOOM!" Taiko shouted and white sparks came flying from her hands, burning the creature in successive electrical explosions each more powerful than the last. The current was enough to charbroil the creature from the inside out, but unfortunately for Taiko the back fire from her own attack sent her flying into the clouds. Taiko screamed as her body was hurled at high speed through the air.

_"Am I going to die?" _Taiko wondered as she flew through the sky with her face turned up toward the sun. _"I have to do something or it might just happen." _Taiko thought trying to move her wings which wouldn't budge an inch. _"I can't die like this!" _Taiko thought as she fell head first toward the ground. Taiko closed her eyes and continued to concentrate on moving her wings. Just before sudden death impact Taiko was able to spread her wings and turn her body right side up lifting herself back into the sky. Looking down Taiko could see she wasn't far from where she had left Ryu and could see him still sleeping.

Ryu slowly awoke feeling a gust of air from Taikos wings as she landed. Opening his eyes he could see her standing with her back to him and sat up.

Taiko's heart was pounding and she couldn't stop shaking. She was too traumatized from her encounter with the monster to be proud of the perfect landing she had made.

"It's so late. Why didn't you wake me up?" Ryu said rubbing his eyes and startling Taiko nearly to death.

"I tried, but you kinda growled at me." Taiko answered shakily.

Ryu's face turned red with embarrassment and before he could apologize Taiko fell to her hands and knees.

"Damnit." Taiko muttered as she landed on her sore wrist. _"I'm just thankful it isn't broken." _She thought looking at her wobbling arm.

"Taiko!" Ryu said rushing to her aid and dropping down in front of her. "Are you ok?" He said leaning her into an upright position.

"I'm fine." Taiko answered with a small smile and started to laugh. That laugh quickly turned into sobbing. Ryu hugged her not knowing what else to do.

"What happened to you?" He asked as she continued to shake in his arms.

"I got attacked by a monster." Taiko quietly answered.

"You did?" Ryu said sweat dropping in awe that he slept through something like that or did he? Unable come out of dragonized form Ryu was prone to going into hazes for any given amount of time. During those times he could be so out of it he wouldn't remember what he was doing or be only acutely aware of his actions during that time.

"I suppose I should have known better than to wonder around alone in this godforsaken place. I mean where I come from you'd always hear stories about some idiot running around in the woods and getting attacked by a grizzly bear or something and now I'm one of them!" Taiko sobbed.

"Don't beat yourself up over it." Ryu said stroking her hair. He felt relieved that he didn't loose it, but also guilty for not being there to help Taiko who had stood up and walked away a few paces.

"Ryu, I killed it. I don't know how, but I killed it." Taiko answered looking down at her hands then folded her arms around herself. Her wings then flared out startling her. "My own body has become some foreign object to me." Taiko said looking at the ground.

"You haven't always been this way?" Ryu asked shocked by her words.

"No." Taiko answered turning around.

"Taiko, you never answered me when I asked what you were. Are you human?" Ryu asked standing up.

"Yes, no, I-." Taiko stumbled over her words fully realizing the changes her body had undergone. "I don't know anymore. I used to be. I'd like to think I still am. What do you see me as?"

Before Ryu could answer a black hole like the one that had sent him to the world he was now on opened up behind him.

"What is it?" Taiko asked taking a step back.

"It's a doorway." Ryu answered looking menacingly at the gaping hole. "I know this because I was pushed through one just like it."

"Will it take you home?" Taiko asked coming to stand beside him.

"I'm hoping it will." He said grabbing her hand. "Let's jump through and hope for the best." Taiko nodded and the two leaped in.

On the other side the hole dumped them out. Ryu landed unconscious on his back and Taiko on her chest. "Argh!" Taiko yelled in frustration as she spit a twig out of her mouth. She had stayed fully conscious all the way through, but Ryu for some reason almost immediately became unconscious. Taiko realized this when his grip on her hand suddenly loosened after they jumped in the portal. Taiko held on to him as tight as she could as they were hurled across space in a matter of minutes.

"Ryu!" Taiko called shaking him. He growled at her again, but this time it really peeved Taiko off and she shook him even harder. "WAKE UP!" She yelled partly in anger and relief. After being pushed through billions of miles of space for fifteen minute strait without so much as a peep from the dragon Taiko was worried that after they came out of the void, if they came out, that he would be dead.

Coming to Ryu sat up and calmly looked around. "Are you ok?" Taiko asked franticly. Ryu just looked at her. "Are you ok?" Taiko asked again as she checked his head for any bumps.

"I'm fine." Ryu finally answered.

"That's good and you don't seem to have any injuries." Taiko sighed.

"Taiko?" Ryu said blinking as his eyes wildly looked about.

"Yeah?"

"Never mind," He said realizing he had blanked out.

"What is it?"

"I was just wondering where we were that's all. He said not telling her the full truth.

"Ah, I was wondering that myself. I'll go scout the place out while you rest here.

"But…" Ryu began to protest.

"I'll be fine… I hope. Well, if anything happens promise to bury my bones some place nice." Taiko grinned.

"Taiko.." Ryu said shaking his head.

"Be back in a sec." Taiko said running off.

Ryu watched her as she disappeared into the woods. Looking up at the bright nearly cloudless sky Ryu's mind slipped again. Getting up and walking in the same direction Taiko had gone, he had decided to follow her. Not making a sound Ryu careful crept along keeping an eye on Taiko. For the longest it seemed she would search around observing the plants and animals. She changed directions three times before spreading her wings and taking to the sky. Ryu watched her fly off as he hovered above a stream of water. If he were able to fly into the clouds like Taiko could he probably would have continued in his pursuit, but seeing no way to catch up with her the dragon temporarily gave up. When Ryu came out of his haze he fell straight into the flowing water just below his feet. The stream was very shallow, only six feet deep, but it was enough to complete cover someone that only stood about 5'4". Ryu splashed back up to the surface panting heavily. _"Where I am?" _He thought looking around. "Taiko!" He called out, but didn't receive an answer. Feeling something move across his knees Ryu quickly went back into a haze and punched at the water with his right fist causing it to spray into the air along with an eel that smacked him in the face with its tale as it dove back into the water. Ryu punched at the water again knocking the fish back into the air. This time when it came back down into the water it sent a small electrical current throw it that would have paralyzed a normal human being. The current didn't even faze Ryu so he knocked the eel back into the air again. He wasn't angry with the electrical fish at all, but sending it flying into the air had become somewhat of a game.

"Um, what are you doing?" Taiko asked as she hovered just above a tree that had fallen across the two sides of the stream. Ryu stopped bothering the eel who quickly swam away and looked up at her. He then quickly came back into his right mind and turned away from her embarrassed, because this time he was aware of what was going on before she showed up.

_"I can't seem to control it today." _Ryu thought as a slight head ache started to set in.

"You were playing around in the water weren't you? You don't have to be embarrassed about that! I mean people would not have invented water sports if playing in the water was something to be embarrassed about." Taiko said attempting to land on the fallen tree, but somehow ended up diving head first into the water as her wings begin to beat rapidly.

"Taiko!" Ryu yelled as he swam over to where she fell.

A moment later Taiko resurfaced gasping. "Hmmm, now that was embarrassing." Taiko said trying to laugh it off as she made her way out of the stream. Ryu just stared at her with his mouth open, but realized he was gaping and quickly regained his composure. Taiko didn't see the expression on his face since she was too busy wringing out her hair and clothes as best she could without taking them off.

"Well, I came back to find you because I have potentially good news!" Taiko announced excitedly.

"What is it?" Ryu asked staying in the center of the stream.

"I found a road and some ways up ahead is a city."

"That's great! Why do you say it's potentially good news?"

"Well, we don't know what kind of people live in the city nor if they'll freak out when they see us. I mean even if they don't who says we won't end up as barbeque?"

"I don't think we'll have to worry about being bar-b-queued." Ryu said looking down at his hands. "But you're right we need to be cautious."

…To Be Continued…


	8. Part VIII

**Strange Journey**

By: Phoenix Hoshika

Part VIII

Ryu and Taiko traveled along side the road staying out of sight behind the trees. They had no idea what kind of people inhabited the city they were headed toward nor how they would react to seeing a dragon and a winged girl.

"Um, Ryu come to think of it, don't you think we're being a bit ridiculous?"

"How so?" Ryu asked as they continued to walk.

"I mean we don't know a thing about these people and yet we're heading straight into their city."

"That's true. Do you think we should stay out here and wait for another portal to open up?"

"Hm, I don't know. It may be best if we keep moving and it may not be. This area seems quiet enough for us to stay out here a few days without anyone noticing, but at the same time we're awfully close to a city, I just don't know what we should do." Taiko admitted as they slowly came to a halt.

"Let's walk down the road."

"Huh?"

"Let's walk down the road. Maybe some people coming from the city or going to the city may come by then we can see for ourselves what type of people they might be." Ryu suggested.

"Yeah, I suppose that would work… Well, here's to hoping they're, for the most part, friendly toward strangers."

"Ryu, are there cars where you come from?" Taiko asked as they walked over to the road.

"Cars?"

"Hm, the road looks like it's built for cars." Taiko continued.

"What's a car?"

"People use them to travel by land a lot were I come from, cars are convenient but they pollute the air."

"Oh." Ryu said stepping out onto the road.

"Wait." Taiko said grabbing his arm let's stay on the side of the road near the trees. A car might come along and hit you if you walk in the middle of the road." Ryu nodded and they continued toward the city at a slightly slower pace hoping people in a car would drive by and thirty minutes later one did.

Taiko's heart stopped when she saw the driver of the vehicle who slammed on the breaks right after passing them. The car backed up and stopped in front of them and to Taiko's horror the driver was exactly what she thought he looked like; a giant grass hopper.

"What the hell are two humanoids doing out here in the boonies? Ya'll need a lift?" The grasshopper asked.

"Well um…" Ryu said looking over at Taiko who was standing with her mouth open.

"Well do ya or don't cha?"

"Yes!" Ryu answered when it became evident Taiko was too shocked to give any type of response.

"Well whatcha standing around for gaping? Get in."

"Yes, sir." Ryu said opening the back door and ushering Taiko into the car behind the driver then sat down beside her and closed the door.

"What's wrong with yer girl there son? She looks like she just seen a ghost." The grasshopper commented as he took a peak in his review mirror while driving recklessly down the road.

Ryu turned and looked at Taiko before whispering, "are you ok?"

"Uh-huh." Taiko said closing her mouth.

"You suuure don't look like it." The grasshopper said as the car lifted into the air after coming up a hill.

"S-s-s-s-s-sir, c-c-c-could you please slow down?" Taiko asked nervously.

"Slow down? Hell, if I slow down we'll be next year getting into town, now hold on I'm speeding up!" The grasshopper said slamming down on the accelerator and as he did the car went flying over another hill fifteen feet into the air. At that point Taiko could no longer hold herself together, she fell over trying not to scream. Yes, the speed at which they were traveling did bother her, but that wasn't the root cause of most of the anxiety she felt. It was the fact the person driving the car was a giant grasshopper and that could only mean the city they were going to was full of more giant bugs.

"Ah, yer girl's gotta toughen up some, don't she son?" The grasshopper said taking another look into his review mirror. "You ain't about to loose your lunch back there are ya missy?"

Taiko wasn't feeling ill, but she still couldn't help but feel as if there were millions of tiny little bugs crawling all over her body and couldn't answer; she knew that if she opened her mouth to answer a scream would come out instead.

"She'll be fine." Ryu answered looking down at her. _"I hope."_

A little while later the car came to a screeching halt in front of a motel. From the outside it didn't look like much, in fact it didn't even look like the place was still in business.

"Hot damn," the grasshopper shouted. "Made it back in fifteen minutes. That's mighty impressive if I do say so myself. Well this is where I be letting you kids off. My little girls are in a school concert and it would just break their hearts if their daddy weren't there to see 'em perform."

"Well, thank you." Ryu said as he gently pushed Taiko out of the car.

"Awe, don't mention it. This here is a motel. There's a much nicer place further down, but I figured by the way you two were walking along side the road ye didn't have much money so I dropped you off here instead. It may not be as nice as the one further down the road, but the beds are clean and the owner's pretty nice. Well see ya!" The grasshopper said speeding off.

Ryu sweat dropped as he heard the grasshopper yelling, "yeehaa!" as he speed down the road. "That was fun wasn't it?" He asked turning to Taiko who was shaking from head to toe. "Are you alright?"

"Un, just give me a moment." Taiko said as she took a few deep breaths. "Okay, let's see what kind of deal we can work out with the owner since we don't have any money."

"Right." Ryu said as he followed her into the building.

"What the hell?" The motel owner said jumping up from his seat behind the desk. The motel owner was a dark green ant who went by the name of Frank. His wife Daisy was in the back room when she heard him yelling and came rushing to the front. "We don't want you're kind staying in our motel!" Frank boomed.

"Honey!" Daisy quietly, but angrily addressed her husband. "They're customers."

"I don't care if the were the #&$ government no humanoids are staying in my motel!"

"Oh, stuff it!" Daisy said pushing in front him. "Welcome and please stay." She said humbly to Ryu and Taiko.

"Stay my ass. Get the hell out and don't come back!" Frank shouted pushing back in front of his wife.

"What is wrong with you?" Daisy asked her temper starting to boil.

"Them, that's what's wrong with me!"

"Why are you acting this way? You weren't like this the first five years we were married."

"Things change." Frank replied coldly as he glared at Ryu. "Besides that this is a family friendly facility. Do you understand that humanoid F-A-M-I-L-Y!" The giant ant spelled out as he stared at Ryu.

Perhaps most people would have gotten upset and stormed out of the motel, but being accustomed to dealing with such blatant prejudice Ryu was only mildly upset by the ant's aversion toward him. "What are you talking about? Why do you have a problem with us?" He finally asked.

"My problem is more so with you than the female. Who do you think you are strolling in here without a stitch of clothing on?" Frank asked, his antennas twitching angrily.

"What do you mean I don't have any clothes on?" Ryu asked not believing what the ant was saying.

Taiko lowered her head and sighed. "_I can't believe he had no clue he was walking around naked." _Taiko thought then looked up. "Let's go." She said taking hold of his hand.

"Please don't go." Daisy requested once more. "Frank, I can't believe you would harp on that as an excuse for turning away costumers. Exactly what clothes are you wearing?" Daisy asked her husband as her temper flared even higher. "We're insectoids, it's different for us."

"How so," Daisy challenged. "Besides it's not like you can see anything!"

"See anything…" Ryu repeated, his face turning a bright red. "Then I really am…" Ryu murmured suddenly feeling utterly ashamed and embarrassed.

"Oh, boy what a mess." Taiko commented with a heavy sigh.

"Did you know?" Ryu asked Taiko now unable to look her in the eye.

Taiko let out another sigh as she nodded her head. "I just figured you knew and didn't say anything 'cause I didn't want to make a big deal out of it."

"_But it is a big deal. I've been walking around like this for nearly a month." _Ryu thought, wanting to find some place to hide.

"Damnit Daisy, besides all that they don't even look like they have any money."

"Well that doesn't matter now does it?" Daisy retorted. "The way you've been treating them they've earned a free stay at least!"

"Ah, the hell with it; do whatever you want!" Frank yelled as he stomped into the back room and slammed the door closed.

Later that night Ryu lay awake in a bed some feet away from the one Taiko was in. He was still in utter shock from learning that he was in fact walking around without any type of clothing on. "_How could I not have realized this?" _Ryu thought for perhaps the hundredth time as he dreaded leaving the motel the next morning. He sat up and looked over at Taiko who was laying on top of the covers curled into a ball. Ryu wanted to wake her up and leave under the cover of night so no one else would see him. "_I can't." _Ryu thought heavily sighing.

Hearing Ryu's exasperated sigh Taiko popped out of her ball and sat up shaking, her eyes still closed. "Thank God you're awake."

Ryu quickly pulled the blanket on his bed over his lap. "What's wrong?" Ryu asked noticing her strange action.

"I can't help but feel like there are millions of things crawling all over me." Taiko said standing up and flapping her wings a couple of times.

"But there isn't anything on you…" Ryu answered able to see her quite clearly in the dark room.

"Yeah, I know that, but I can't help but itch all over as if something were." Taiko said shuddering. Taiko had lived in a roach infested slum of an apartment building. Almost every night she would wake up to find one or more of the vermin that inhabited the building crawling on her body and it was something that freaked her out to the core. Coming to a planet that had giant talking bugs was almost like a living nightmare for her. "Well since we're both up I've been meaning to ask you something." Taiko said turning on the light then sweat dropped when Ryu turned his back to her pulling the sheets on his bed around his waist.

"You've been naked all this time and it hasn't been a problem. Unless you're thinking some perverted thoughts I don't see why it has to be an issue now."

"Taiko…" Ryu said sweat dropping.

"Don't tell me you actually were?" Taiko said walking back over to her bed and flopping down on her back. "Ah, there is no hope. All men are perverts after all, but for some reason I thought that maybe you were different. I guess I was wrong." Taiko declared melodramatically.

"Taiko!" Ryu said his face flushing a deeper shade of red. He was shocked at the things his usually mild mannered new friend was saying.

"Good grief." Taiko said sitting up. "It's like Daisy said; you can't see anything. Why are you so self conscious all of a sudden? I mean I don't think I freaked out even half as much as you when I first realized it." Taiko said laying back down. "_Then again I'd be pretty embarrassed too if I just found out I was naked." _She thought then sat back up sweat dropping again seeing the dragon still wrapped up in the sheets. "You're starting make me feel uncomfortable. Just relax."

Ryu sat in the middle of the bed still blushing from embarrassment. "You're right." Ryu said calming down and coming to sit down beside her.

"You know it's really laughable." Taiko said smiling. "I can't believe you had no idea."

"Me neither." Ryu answered, his gaze focused on the floor as Taiko continued to talk to him. She asked him a lot of questions particularly about the world he was from. After a while Ryu was once again able to feel at easy around her. "I want to know something." Ryu said looking over at Taiko who had lain back down and was on the verge of sleep.

"Yeah?" She yawned.

"You weren't scared?"

"Huh?" Taiko said opening her eyes.

"I mean you didn't think I was a monster when you first saw me?"

Taiko propped herself up on her elbows and looked at him. "Hm, to tell you the truth I wasn't sure what to think, but monster wasn't the first thing that came to mind. To be honest the first thing I thought was; who are you?"

Ryu smiled with relief.

"Okay, my turn; when we were on the other world, what made you come get me?"

"It looked like you were in trouble. I would have done something sooner, but that man flew away with you so fast it took me a while to find where you were. I was worried something terrible may have happened to you. He didn't do anything to hurt you did he?"

"Actually no, he seemed content keeping me locked up in that room… well sort of." Taiko said not wanting to mention the many times the man had pointedly asked her if she would like to spend some time in his chambers. Besides being kept against her will Taiko was worried he actually might do something to her, despite his promise that he wouldn't, if things went on like that much longer. When Ryu came and literally grabbed her up Taiko was willing to take her chances with him, hoping that she could escape. Fortunately things worked out and for the first time in her life Taiko felt that Heaven had smiled upon her.

Taiko gave a small giggle. That immediately caught Ryu's attention. "What is it?" He asked looking over his shoulder at her.

"I'm just glad that I was able to meet someone so noble." Taiko said falling asleep."

…To Be Continued…


	9. Part IX

**Strange Journey**

**By Phoenix Hoshika**

**Part IX**

It had been a couple of weeks since Ryu and Taiko had left the planet mainly inhabited by giant talking insects. As they were stepping through another portal into an open field Taiko was tightly clutching Ryu's clawed hand. Having built up more of a tolerance for the journey through the portal Ryu was still conscious, however, weakened by the trip. Taking only a single step forward he fell to his knees.

"Ryu! Are you okay?" Taiko asked panicked.

Ryu sighed heavily before answering. "Sorry, it's nothing, I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" Taiko asked releasing his hand and kneeling in front of him. "You don't look well." She said bringing the back of her hand to his forehead.

"No, it's okay." He said pushing her hand away. "I don't want to be a burden."

Taiko sighed in frustration. "Ryu, when you go through the portals it does something to you. The first time it happened I was almost certain you had died. It scares me to think that the next time we go through a portal I'll be coming out with a dead body, so like it or not I worry about you."

"Taiko, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, we're friends after all, right?" Taiko said smiling as she stood. "Let's go exploring."

"I really don't feel up to moving much right now." Ryu said as he remained seated on the ground.

"Hm, that trip really did a number on you, huh?" Taiko said kneeling down in front of him once again. "I wonder why it messes with you so badly and has no effect on me? Oh well." Taiko said standing up. "I suppose there's no point in asking that question seeing how there is no answer in sight. I'll scout ahead. Will you be okay here by yourself?" Ryu nodded in response and Taiko took off.

A half hour had past when Ryu found himself falling asleep where he sat. His chin was falling toward his chest when he heard a shrill scream not to far from where he was. Ryu immediately headed in the direction of the scream and found Taiko running around wildly as a giant butterfly chased her.

"RYU!" Taiko screamed running directly at him. Before he could process what was going on Taiko was hiding behind him on the ground clutching his leg. "Make it go away! Kill it! Do something!" She insisted as she shook from head to toe. The butterfly was the size of medium sized dog and had an equally large wing span. It fluttered in front of Ryu curiously watching him.

"What?" Ryu, uttered not understanding Taiko's obvious phobia of an apparently harmless creature. The butterfly made a slight move in Taiko's direction and she shrieked pulling on Ryu's leg so roughly he nearly fell.

"Is it dangerous?" Ryu asked just to be on the safe side.

"I don't know! Just kill it!" Taiko screamed.

"Why didn't you kill it?"

"Because I'm scared!"

"But, it seems harmless, why do you want me to kill it?"

Before Taiko could answer the butterfly lunged at her and she took off screaming once again, this time into the sky.

Panting heavily Taiko came to a stop once over the troposphere and looked around. "_I lost it." _Taiko thought, but then she felt something moving around on her back.

Down below Ryu could hear the blood curdling scream Taiko let out and cringed slightly. He could see a tiny white ball of light which was Taiko streaming across the sky as she quickly descended. Landing on her feet she began to run.

Some miles away Ryu found Taiko in a river nervously eyeing the insect that sat at the bank waiting for her to come out so it could pounce on her again. When it sensed Ryu it instead leaped on him giving him a hug with its long black legs. Ryu smiled and hugged it back.

"It's friendly, there's nothing to worry about."

"Say that after it bites you." Taiko said remaining where she was.

"No, I'm sure it doesn't bite." Ryu said as it snuggled against his cheek. "I'll hold it so you can get out of the water." Ryu said.

Taiko sweat dropped. "Ok." She agreed and came onto the land. Carefully she walked over to Ryu staring wearily at the butterfly then reached out to pet its head. Taiko froze when the creature's antennae purposely touched her arm.

Mistaking Taiko's silence for calmness Ryu released the butterfly and it leapt onto Taiko's face.

"MWAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Was the echoing noise Taiko made as she screamed yet again.

It had taken a while for Taiko to somewhat calm down, mostly due to exhaustion. The giant insect sat comfortably perched on top of Taiko's head who was shaking slightly.

"Are you going to be okay?" Ryu asked cautiously.

"Uh-hm." Taiko answered shakily.

"That's good. He really seems to like you." Ryu said relieved.

"It has a gender?" Taiko said lifting her eyes.

"It's strange." Ryu said sitting down on the grass.

"Yeah, as much as I swatted at it and yelled you think it would have bitten or flown away or both." Taiko said the butterfly remaining on her head.

"No, that's not what I meant. You can't stand bugs or insects of any kind it seems and yet they are attracted to you. Remember the kokori children on the insect planet?"

"How can I forget them!" Taiko said shuddering. "It's not everyday you find yourself sounded by cockroaches nearly as big as you are."

"Their parents were happy you agreed to watch them for a while." Ryu said giving the slightest of smiles.

"ME? YOU WERE THE ONE WHO AGREED TO WATCH THEM THEN RAN OFF WITH A COUPLE OF MOTH BIMBOS!" Taiko raved still shaking.

"…..I was dragged away, and once I lit their fire they let me go."

"Yeah, I bet you did." Taiko grumbled.

"Ryu sweat dropped. "It was nothing like that." He said perfectly restraining the urge to fall over laughing. "Besides several kokori children weren't all that bad. If you were in my place you would have been surrounded by hundreds moth people."

"Hundreds?"

"Probably a couple thousand at the least," Ryu smiled.

"A couple thousand," Taiko repeated becoming weak in the knees and falling over. The butterfly detached itself from her head right before Taiko hit the ground.

"It will be dark soon we better find a place to rest." Ryu said standing and walking forward.

"Hey, wait for me!" Taiko said getting up and running after him, the butterfly right behind her.

That night Ryu and Taiko found themselves sleeping under the night sky in the grassy plains. Taiko slept uneasily seeing how the butterfly had decided to make her back its resting place. Finally getting accustomed to the oversized insect on top of her Taiko was about to fall asleep when it suddenly started making a loud hissing noise. When Taiko opened her eyes the butterfly had flown away and she was surrounded by a group of people wearing large masks who had spears pointed at her, but most of their attention was on Ryu who was still asleep.

"Are you friend or foe?" The leader asked.

"Friend," Taiko answered.

The leader then signaled for the two with spears pointed at Taiko to stand down, but the five surrounding Ryu remained on guard. "We will take you back to our village, but your man can not enter unless his arm is broken first." The leader said.

_"What for? That's rather brutal plus I don't think Ryu would stand for it and if he hazes out things could get messy," _were the thoughts that hurriedly ran through Taiko's mind. "Man? He's no more a man than the horses you're riding." Taiko said. _"Now please just don't wake up saying anything, Ryu." _Taiko thought with her fingers crossed.

"It looks like a man." One of them said who was standing by Taiko.

"Well, people are sometimes mistaken for animals." Taiko countered. "This one here is nothing more than a beast."

"If this creature be a beast then what are you?" The leader asked lifting one of Taiko's wings with the handle of her spear.

_"Ugh, please don't do that it's annoying." _ Taiko thought sweatdropping. _"Isn't it obvious?" _Taiko answered.

"Then the legends are true?" A girl said stepping forward and leaning over into Taiko's face. "A real life fairy?" The girl said touching Taiko's head, then her lips, and then her chest.

_"Great, is everyone going to feel me up before the night is over?" _Taiko thought as the girls hands lingered on her chest.

"What are these?" The girl asked continuing to touch Taiko's chest. "Breasts? Are you a female?" The girl asked as she went to lift up Taiko's dress, but Taiko quickly pushed the edge of her dress down and shied away.

"Yes, I'm female," Taiko exclaimed not able to take much more the girl's poking and prodding.

"Master, the legends say fairies have no gender."

"That is correct Sasha." The leader answered.

"Then it's a trick!" One of the women declared. "I bet there's absolutely nothing under that dress besides its legs." And before Taiko could blink she found herself being stripped down.

_"Is this how they treat friends? Oh, please don't wake up, especially now." _Taiko thought looking over her back at Ryu.

"It's acting strange." Sasha said as she observed Taiko who was sitting with her arms across chest.

"What are you ashamed of? We're all women here, aren't we? The leader said looking over at the still sleeping Ryu.

"I'm not an 'it' and I'm cold!" Taiko said looking at the strips of cloth on the ground that were her clothes.

"The legends also said fairies can make objects appear out of thin air. Are you really a fairy?" The leader asked her.

_"I really don't know what I am. Jon could make things appear and disappear, so maybe I am a fairy, but I have now idea how to do that. All I can do is electrocute things and I really don't have a handle on that." _Taiko thought shivering. "You are taking me back to your village right? At least give me something to cover up with, I don't know what I'll do if a man sees me naked."

"You'll get some clothes when we get to our village and don't worry about the men. They should all be in bed now." The leader sternly assured then signaled her followers to put a cape over Taiko. She was then put on a horse with Ryu who was starting to wake up. Ever so slightly Taiko signaled him not to talk as they traveled to the women's village.

"Welcome the Amazon settlement 72." Sasha said as they entered a short wooden fence and everyone removed their masks. Inside the fences were large tents spread here and there. It's not much to look at but it's our home."

Coming to what seemed to be the back of the village the horse came to a stop and an Amazon helped Taiko off the horse. Looking back Taiko could see the leader talking to another woman. You can sleep in this tent as long as you are in our village. A woman said as she came from inside. Looking in Taiko could see that the woman had lit a small fire and laid out a sleeping mat and blanket for her.

_"Poor Ryu. He'll have to sleep on the floor like an animal while we're here. Hopefully we'll be able to make a break for it soon. Something about these people just isn't right." _Taiko thought.

"Is something wrong?" The woman asked.

"No, nothing. I'm just thankful that you went through the trouble." Taiko said.

"Sleep well." The Amazon said who had prepared the tent for Taiko as everyone went to their own tents.

Taiko nodded and entered the tent.

Once inside Ryu opened his mouth to speak but Taiko silently hushed him again.

"Excuse me." A timid voice said from just outside the tent. When the flap opened Taiko could see it was the woman the leader was speaking to a few moments ago. She had returned with a small bundle and at the moment was suspiciously eyeing Ryu.

"Don't worry he doesn't bite unless I tell him to. Ryu is a very obedient pet." Taiko said patting Ryu on the head.

"This is for you." The woman said handing the bundle to Taiko before running off.

"Great, clothes, now I can finally get dressed," Taiko said which was Ryu's signal to turn his back. Once he was facing the opposite direction Taiko removed the cape she had tightly wrapped around her body and got dressed. _"Okay, I'm dressed now so why do I still feel naked?" _Taiko thought pulling at the dark brown shorts that hugged her hips. The asymmetric tank was also too tight for comfort. Both items of clothing were made out of a thick cloth that felt like suede and left her mid section completely exposed. _"Ooooh, this is embarrassing. None of them dress like this. Why are they making where this?" _ Taiko mentally complained then tapped Ryu on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry about this but they seem kind of violent." If I didn't make them think you were some kind of strange beast they would have tried to break your arm." Taiko said kneeling down and whispering so low only Ryu could hear her voice.

Ryu nodded. _"They didn't trust men. I wonder if they're all locked up someplace." _Ryu wondered as he laid down on the straw mat covered floor.

Taiko gasped. "Ryu!" She hissed shaking him awake. "What are you doing? We have to get away from here." She whispered.

"_That's right we should go, but I'm so sleepy." _Ryu thought his squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head.

"Ryu? Taiko said leaning forward.

Ryu opened his eyes giving her a frightening stare.

Taiko bolted back giving a small gasp. "_What's that look about?" _Taiko thought as her first encounter with the dragon came to mind. "_Uh-oh."_

Ryu stood up pulling Taiko to her feet. In the blink of an eye the tent they were in went up in flames and was nothing more than ash. It didn't take long for the Amazons to react. Taiko clung to Ryu as poisonous arrows flew toward them.

"_This is it I'm going to die."_ Taiko thought as she closing her eyes. When she didn't feel anything cutting her flesh Taiko opened her eyes to see that everything in the immediate area was turned to ash. "_Oh no, Ryu."_

All of the soldiers that had come out to attack them had been decimated. The remaining people were most men who had no fighting ability whatsoever and were too shocked by the sight before them to do anything except stare in fearful awe.

Ryu blinked suddenly becoming aware of what had happened and sighed. "We should go." Ryu said stepping forward.

Taiko grabbed his hand. Ryu turned to face in surprised by the action. For that moment he decided not to say anything. Taiko couldn't help, but stare at the black smears on the ground. The site sent shivers up her spine but she couldn't take her eyes off of them.

It was nearly sunrise before they stopped to rest. As they traveled through the night the open field became speckled with trees and the sound of water could be heard in the distance.

"_A river maybe?" _Taiko thought as she heard the rushing water. "_After what just happened why would he go anywhere near where people might be?"_

Ryu sat with his eyes closed on a fallen tree. "_It can't help, but be this way." _Ryu thought as he recalled the sight at the village. It was like waking up to a nightmare.

"Ryu are you awake?" Taiko asked as she came to stand in front of him.

Ryu opened his eyes and looked away. "Leave me alone."

"What!" Taiko uttered in disbelief.

"You saw what happened. It's best we part ways now." Ryu said not bothering to look at her.

"Yes, but-"

"Are you…" Ryu started unsure of his words at first then continued. "Are you trying to get murdered?"

Ryu's words hit Taiko like a brick. "You can't be serious. You haven't done anything to me all this time.

"That is irrelevant."

"Ryu." Taiko said sitting next to him and reaching for his hand but he snatched it away before she could even touch him.

"You must be suicidal. That's the only explanation."

"You jerk! How could say something like that!" Taiko said rising to her feet.

"You know I can't control when it happens and you've even seen the end result twice yet, yet you keep hanging around me." Ryu said coldly. "_They don't even dare come anywhere near when I'm like this because I'm dangerous. It makes no sense for you to be this close. It makes me nervous."_

"Ryu, you saved my life." Taiko said then fell silent. "_The pain and loneliness in your voice… I just can't leave you alone." _Taiko thought closing her eyes as tears filled them. "Do you mean to tell me that you have had thoughts of hurting me?"

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Ryu!" Taiko said hopping over the log and leaning into his face.

Feeling her breath on his face his eyes fluttered open. "_What is she doing!"_ He thought as he took in the fierce expression on his face. Ryu almost fell over backward when Taiko sudden hugged him. "Let go!" Ryu demanded.

"No!" Taiko said just as forcefully tightening her grip.

"Taiko." Ryu said motioning to push her away, but ended up hazing out instead.

"_No, it can't be true. You wouldn't just murder a friend hazed out or not." _Taiko thought holding on to him. After a moment she felt his arms around her waist. Looking up to meet his eyes she could see that person she was talking to before was no longer present.

After a few minutes Ryu came out of his haze his heart racing. "Stupid." He said embracing her, the beating of his heart slowing.

"_Maybe so." _Taiko thought as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Ryu still thought Taiko should take her leave of him, but at the same time he really didn't want that to happen. It felt good to be so close to someone. Often he was called a monster a sentiment he never took offense to since he honestly perceived himself as such as well. Holding Taiko reminded Ryu of his humanity which he was certain he had lost. The tension in his body dissipated as he breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes. He didn't realize he was crying; a single tear fell from his eye crystallizing just before it hit the ground unnoticed.

To Be Continued


	10. Part X

**Strange Journey **

**Part X**

**By Phoenix Hoshika**

Taiko felt as if she would vomit. A minute ago she and Ryu were resting in small grove of trees when a portal sudden opened beneath them dropping the two in their present location. Moaning Taiko slowly propped herself up on her knees. "_Why did a portal suddenly open up like that? It's usually a couple of weeks before one opens but never like that or has it? Though it seems like forever I haven't been traveling with him that long, still a month isn't exactly a short amount of time to be traveling around with a stranger. We're constantly with each other, but I still don't know anything about him and he really seems reluctant to talk about anything before I met him. Life underground… Would it just be bringing up bad memories to talk about it or is it because he really doesn't trust me?" _Taiko paused in her thoughts sighing. "_I hate to think Ryu doesn't trust me, but that can't be it. If he didn't trust me why travel with me all this time?" _Taiko thought as she stood up then looked down at her hands. "_If I'm like Jon that means I'm pretty strong, but at the same time no match for Ryu. So, it could be he let's me follow him around because I'm just not a threat." _Taiko sighed again sudden becoming depressed.

"Ryu?" She called out when finally noticed he was seemingly nowhere around. She stood in what appeared to be the front yard of an old mansion. There was a tall stone wall around the property and the grass was up to her waist; it was obvious the place had been abandoned for quiet some time. The dim early morning light made the spooky looking mansion appear even spookier in Taiko's sight.

Suddenly feeling cold metal against her skull Taiko froze.

"Well, well what do we have here?" A man's voice said. "You're pretty cute for a demon, but I'll need more than that for a reason not to blow your brains out." The man said cocking the trigger of the gun he held to Taiko's head.

"I'm not a demon." Taiko said while not knowing exactly what she was she was certain she was that.

"Now, you could have come up with something better than that." The man said and he would have fired if something hadn't suddenly tore straight through his abdomen. "You've gotta be kidding me!" He said falling to the ground.

Taiko gasped jumping away. "Ryu?"

"Let's go." The dragon said grabbing Taiko's arm and running into the mansion.

Upon entering the building Taiko felt a chill run down her spine. "_Ryu are you sure this was such a good idea?"_ Taiko thought looking over at him.

"I made a mistake." Ryu said letting go of Taiko's arm and moving forward.

"Ryu." Taiko said starting to follow.

"Stay back!" Ryu growled before suddenly becoming surrounded by dozens of grotesque figures.

"What the!" Taiko uttered watching in horror as they swarmed around the dragon.

Using his claws Ryu tore through the figures as if they were paper, their bodies breaking apart like glass then disappearing.

"Damn it!" A familiar voice exclaimed from behind Taiko who nearly jumped out of her skin darting behind Ryu. It was the man who had nearly shot her alive and well.

The man was dressed in a long red leather trench coat and brown pants. He stood about six feet tall and had short silvery white hair that had been lazily combed through with is fingers. His blue eyes seemed to gleam eerily in the darkness of the old house.

"You little pip-squeak, you tried to kill me!" He said with a hint of laughter in his voice. "You'll have to do better than that, but I'll admit that did hurt." He said putting his hand to the area that only a few minutes ago had a gaping hole in it.

"You…!" Taiko said having regained her composure she came to stand beside Ryu instead of behind him. "You tried to kill me!" Taiko yelled.

"Don't take it personally it's my job to kill demons and I do love my job." The man smiled. "Unfortunately I don't have time to play with you. I have much bigger demons to fry. This should take care of you two." Reaching inside his coat he pulled out a small glowing orb then threw it on the floor. The orb shattered and water gushed out from it utterly soaking Ryu and Taiko.

"Cold." Taiko said shivering.

Ryu stood beside her giving the man a quizzical stare.

"Well, I'll be damned. You two really aren't demons… unless you're just half demon like I am.

"Half demon?" Utter said in disbelief. Taiko stood beside mumbling profanities under her breath. "Hey, it's okay." Ryu said holding his flame covered hands in front of her.

"Ah, thanks." Taiko sighed.

The man had stopped paying attention to them and was having a conversation with himself. "Man, I must be really off my game today, but I can still sense it." He said rubbing his head. "_The boy has the slightest scent of human blood, but that girl nothing about her is human, well maybe except the way she looks. If those big as wings weren't sticking out of her back she'd be able to pass for sure."_

"Sense what?" Ryu asked turning away from Taiko who was now dry.

"You may not be demons but you definitely aren't human." The man said pointing his sword at Taiko.

"Leave her alone." Ryu said with a dangerous edge to his voice.

"Woah, call down fire butt."

"Fire butt?" Ryu repeated slightly thrown off.

"So, now that you know we aren't demons could please leave us alone." Taiko said sounding as if she would cry.

"Taiko?" Ryu said turning around to face her.

"_Man, my luck with women really does suck. I should just give up."_ The thought then sighed. "Hey, don't cry. I'm sorry. Look at it this way your boyfriend tore me a new one and not a single hair on your head has been harmed so could you stop with the water works already and get out of my way." The man said walking toward them.

Ryu and Taiko stepped to the side and the man disappeared in the darkness of the house.

"Let's get out of here." Ryu said taking her hand.

"Are you going to be okay?" Ryu asked once they were outside.

"Ryu, is what he said true?"

"Huh?"

"That man said I wasn't human."

"He was talking about both of us."

"Maybe, but he singled me out. Why?"

"_She's upset because he said she wasn't human, but how can I console her when I'm having the same problem? How can I tell it doesn't matter when all I want is to be able to return to my true form?"_ Ryu thought as he watched her cry.

"Ryu, you have to tell me that what he said isn't true. I may look different but I'm still a person aren't I?"

"Taiko…" Ryu said at a loss for words. "_That man, he said he kills demons for a living and I can't honestly deny that he didn't single her out as not being human. Now she wants me to tell her he was wrong. He said he could sense it and though he was wrong about her being a demon he was not wrong about her not being human. I can sense it too."_

"Ryu, please say something." Taiko said holding his right hand to her chest. "My heart is still in the same place and I have ten fingers and toes. I can walk upright and I can understand thing like math and poetry. What he said can' be true. Ryu, why aren't you saying anything?" Taiko asked desperately.

"That guy. I think he's crazy, but Taiko what he said was true. I'm sorry."

"Oh." Taiko said sinking to the ground. "_I guess I'd make a good entry at a pet show somewhere then." _Taiko with her face to the ground. "_So, is this why Ryu won't really talk to me? I am just a pet to him?"_

Ryu squinted having somehow become aware of Taiko's thoughts and feeling. "Don't say that." Ryu said but his words fell on deaf ears.

"_I wonder if I'll get a nice pink collar? Will he take me home with him or will he let me loose?"_

Ryu groaned. "Stop that!" He said startling Taiko and she looked up at him wide eyed.

"Sorry," he said stooping down to meet her gaze. "I'm not going to put a collar on you."

Taiko's heart stopped. "_How did he know that was what I was thinking?"_

"You may not be human, but you aren't an animal either."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better. I guess it was pretty dumb of me to ask you that when I knew all along I had stopped being human the moment I woke up in that strange world. I just didn't want to believe it. Though other than that I still don't know what I am besides not human."

Ryu placed both of his hands on her shoulders and closed his eyes. "Will you stop being so difficult? Maybe it means nothing coming from someone like me, but is that how you really see yourself, as being nothing more than some kind of strange animal?" Ryu said opening his eyes and giving her a hard stare. "Do you really think I'm not a monster? What you said to me before, was it just to make me feel better?"

Taiko bushed his hands away and scooted a few feet away from him. "Don't be ridiculous you and I are completely different."

"How?"

"Ryu, we're the same age, yet I've been following you around like a little kid. I'm no good in a bind and I can't even look out for myself; I have to depend on you to do that. I have to depend on you for everything and I wasn't like that before. I could hold my own and now I can't even do that. This whole experience is like a dream and I can't help but wonder if I'm just plain crazy sometimes, but then the truth smacks me in the face, this is no dream."

"Maybe you just need more time to adjust, just-"

"No!" Taiko said cutting him off and moving further away when he reached out for her. "_I may have wings like Jon did but whatever he did to me it took away my humanity. He kept me locked up in that room like a pet. That old freak. Was he serious all those times? When Ryu showed up and things got to hot for him to handle he had no problem handing me over. I guess I was nothing more than a pet to be used and disposed of when he got bored." _Taiko thought shuddering.

Ryu winked unable to block out her thoughts. "_Why is she torturing herself like this?"_

"Are you still reading me thoughts?" Taiko asked with a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Yes, but I'm not doing it on purpose. I can't shut them out." Ryu said bringing his hands to his ears. "_It's like you're screaming. Have you been in that much pain all this time?"_ Ryu thought keeping an eye on her.

"Oh…" Taiko said as she ran her fingers along the ground.

"_She seems calm now but I can tell she still extremely upset." _Ryu thought feeling utterly useless.

The sky had turned completely dark. A cool breeze blew and Taiko shivered. It didn't take long for Ryu to pick up on the reason why Taiko stayed so close to him was because she easily became cold. Finally able to get close to her he wrapped his arms around the shivering girl. It really wasn't that chilly but her skin was cold to the touch as if she had been sitting in a freezer.

"Thank you." Taiko said leaning against him. "I'm sorry for being so much trouble."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it."

"You two sure picked and awfully weird spot to make out." The man in the red coat said as he approached them.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Ryu asked.

"Yup, and got a souvenir to prove it." The man said pulling a demonic head from the nap sack on his back. Ryu and Taiko both flinched in disgust.

"Hey, relax it's dead. Besides I didn't think something like this would get under your skin not after the way I saw you handle those demons earlier. What happened?"

"Nothing, it's just gro- I mean why are you carrying a head around?" Ryu asked.

"I told you; it's a souvenir." The man said placing it back into his pack. "It gets pretty cold out here during the night and I hate to been a complete hole so why don't you two spend the night at my place?"

"Really?" Ryu asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, really, but just this one night. The man said sternly. "By the way the name's Dante.

To Be Continued


	11. Part XI

Strange Journey

Part XI

By Phoenix Hoshika

"Welcome to my humble abode." Dante said as he opened the door to a burnt out building.

Taiko's eyes grew wide.

"What happened here?" Ryu uttered unconsciously.

"Had a few uninvited guests a couple of days ago." Dante said with a slight smile, however, the look in his eyes was deadly. "Make yourselves at home." Dante said retreating into a back room.

"Sure thing." Taiko murmured as she took a few steps forward, jumping back when a chunk of the burned ceiling nearly fell on her.

"It would have been better to just sleep outside." Ryu said once his survey of the damage was done.

"Hm-hmm, you said it." Taiko agreed.

"Hey." Dante said opening the door he had just gone through. "You two, guests don't say bad things about their host's home." As soon as those word left his mouth the door to the room he was in fell off of it's burned up hinges and hit the floor breaking into pieces. Dante sweat dropped.

"This is worse than the hole I used to live in." Taiko said looking down at her ash covered feet.

"You're more than welcome to do something about it." Dante said flippedly then walked off.

"I think I get it now." Taiko said heavily.

"What?" Ryu asked cluelessly.

"He wants us to clean up this mess, but the whole place would have to be torn down for that to happen. To be honest I'm surprised it's even standing."

The next morning when Taiko woke up she was covered from head to toe with black ashes. Ryu was able to burn the soot from his body and even Dante looked as if he had not been touched by the ash.

"How did you manage to stay clean?" Taiko asked futilely trying to dust herself off.

"Heh, you'll never know." Dante said with a smirk. "Okay, kids time to get to work.

"So, Taiko was right. You really had no plans to kick us out after one night did you?" Ryu said almost sounding shocked.

"Actually, the thought hadn't crossed my mind at first. I really just wanted to see if you'd try to kill me again on the way here. That's all."

"So, why the sudden change of mind?" Taiko asked.

"I liked your suggestion."

"Some host." Taiko muttered.

"Hey, I'm letting you stay here for free aren't I?  
"Free my ass."

"Whatever, just get to work." Dante said tossing a mop over to Ryu. "There's a pipe around here somewhere." Dante said walking along the walls until he came cross something metallic then busted it open with his fist sending water everywhere. "And you my dear…" Dante said giving Taiko a once over. "Whatever you are, get to moving all this ash to the dumpster out in the alley." He said then headed for the front door.

"Hey! This is your house where are you going?" Taiko demanded.

"I'm going to pick up the supplies for phase two. See you." Dante said blowing her a kiss.

"I can't believe we fell into his trap!" Taiko fumed.

"Don't worry it's not like we have anything else to do." Ryu said contently mopping the floor.

"You're awfully chipper." Taiko said giving Ryu a sideways glare.

"He really doesn't seem like it but Dante really is a nice person…. He just has a few issues." Ryu said continuing to mop.

"Issues or not he's treating us like his personal slaves."

"He's too prideful to just come out and ask us to help him."

"Are you under a spell or something? Why are you taking up for him?"

"I'm not taking up for him. It's just that I don't mind helping him out. Besides there really isn't any place else for us to go. The people here would freak out if they saw us and that would cause a problem. So, for now I'm okay with this arrangement."

"If you say so." Taiko said getting to work. _"I'm guessing you probably wouldn't have said that if you couldn't take him without a problem."_ Taiko thought as she gathered up a bucket load of ash.

"I don't know about that. Dante really is dangerous, I just happen to catch him off guard before is all." Ryu said pausing.

"So you said it because you aren't sure if you can beat him?" Taiko asked even more agitated.

"No, I'm pretty sure I can, I just have to be careful, but it's like I just told you; I really don't mind."

Taiko sighed. _"I guess there is no point in being so upset. When Ryu gets ready to leave we'll leave. It just pisses me off knowing I wouldn't be able to afford such thinking if I were one my own. Dante would probably work me until I died."_

"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you." Ryu said as he continued to clean. "I won't leave you alone I promise."

Taiko froze. His words made her feel a huge rush of relief, but at the same time she had become greatly irritated with him. "Stop reading my mind!" Taiko yelled as she threw a huge pile of ash at him that disintegrated into nothing before it could even touch him.

"Sorry." Ryu said with one eye open.

"Hey…" Taiko said walking over to him and throwing a hand full of ash at him, it too disappearing.

"What are you doing? Ryu asked slightly annoyed.

"If you can do that why don't you get rid of all this?"

"It would mess up the floor." Ryu said vigorously wiping at the floor with the blackened mop until the marble below was visible.

"Oh wow, it must have been a really nice house before it got all burned up like this." Taiko said slightly in awe. "But if he can afford such expensive flooring why doesn't he just hire people to rebuild this mess?"

"Cheap I guess." Ryu answered.

"Figures."

"I was kidding. He just doesn't care for other people is all, plus he's hiding something." Ryu added.

"If that's so then what gives?"

"It's because we aren't human."

"Weirdo. He can trust us but not his own kind?" Taiko said dropping the bucket she was holding. _"His kind, human kind, like I once was. I guess I'm finally getting used to being this way talking like I am. Still, I can't help but be depressed about it." _

"Taiko, are you okay?" Ryu asked slightly concerned.

"Yeah. What was that again?"

Ryu sighed. _"I don't have to read your mind to know that you are lying."_ He thought then answered. "I said he isn't human either."

"Is that so?" Taiko said. "Well I still think he's a nut case."

"No, he has-

"Some issues." Taiko finished. "Yeah, I know and that's what creeps me out about him. _What's with that guy?"_

It took them all day to clean up the mess that was once Dante's home and coincidentally that was just about how long it took for Dante to return with a Mack truck full of building materials.

"Hey, fire butt."

"My name is Ryu."

"Whatever, help me unload this stuff and you..." Dante said addressing Taiko. "Stay out of the way I don't want your dirty finger prints on anything.

Taiko growled. _"It's your fault I'm so filthy in the first place." _Taiko thought as she moved to the side and watched them work. Exhausted from the work that day she almost immediately fell asleep. When she awoke it was completely black outside.

"Okay, everything is in place now. Could you go over there?" Dante said pointing to where Taiko was. Okay, now close your eyes and turn around and don't open them until I say so got it?" Dante instructed once Ryu was standing beside Taiko.

Ryu nodded and he and Taiko turned their backs to him with their eyes closed.

"Are you sure he isn't going to attack us or something?" Taiko whispered.

"Yes, I'm positive he won't." Ryu answered.

"Okay you can look now." Dante said and when they did Taiko almost lost her balance at the sight before her. Dante's house was completely restored to its former glory though not what she expected to see. The house looked more like a store front than a home.

"That's better." Dante said putting his hands on his hips and observing his handiwork. "Yup, definitely better." He said opening the front door. "Come in before somebody sees you." He called. "It'd be a pain in the ass for me if they did." He added to himself.

"Right." Ryu said as he and Taiko hurried to the door, but as soon as they got to it Dante stopped Taiko.

"Hold on a minute. Your feet aren't touching my nice clean floor."

"So, you aren't going to let me in?" Taiko asked.

"I'm going to let you in alright because I'm tired of looking at you like that."

"Huh?" Taiko uttered just before she was picked up off the ground. "Hey what are you doing you jerk? Put me down!" Taiko protested as she tried to get away but Dante had her arms and legs pinned together.

"What are you doing?" Ryu asked edgily.

"Don't worry, just trust me, okay?" Dante said as disappeared in the back of the house.

"AAAGH! What are you doing, you pervert!" Taiko screamed. Then the sound of splashing water could be heard as if something heavy was dropped into it.

Ryu had already made it to the back of the house once hearing Taiko scream and when Dante came out of the bathroom he was face to face with an extremely angry Ryu. Dante was conscious long enough to see his innards splattering all over the walls.

"Are you okay?" Ryu asked rushing into the bathroom and Taiko nearly had a heart attack.

"What are you doing in here?" She asked after dropping down into the blackened water.

"He didn't hurt you did he?"

"No, but he stripped my clothes off and dumped me into this tub. Where is that bastard anyway?" Taiko asked then fell silent when she saw the blood oozing in onto the white tile from the hallway and fainted.

It was morning when Taiko finally came to and she woke up with a start gasping. "Take it easy. You almost drowned yourself in my tub you know." Dante said pushing back down on the bed.

Taiko sat up again. "I thought you were dead!"

"That's the second time he's gotten me. I'm kind of starting to get to get pissed." Dante said nonchalantly. "He sure is protective of you."

"Hmph! Lets see, you tried to shot me in the head and then there's that stunt you pulled last nigh. What kind of friend would he be if he just let you get away with that?" Taiko said nearly getting out of bed until she realized she had no clothes on. "What am I supposed to wear?" Taiko said in a low tone.

"Friend, yeah, right. Anyway, don't be so upset. I could care less."

"Then why did you strip me down in the first place and why am I still naked!"

"That's because I tossed those rags you called clothes out earlier this morning and second it's like I told you last night you were hurting my eyes being so filthy, and third didn't I just tell you I could care less?"

"Why you…"

"Don't get your feathers in a bunch. I bought you some more clothes." Dante said handing her a box. "See? Aren't I a nice guy?"

"Yeah, whatever." Taiko said taking the box from him.

"Hey, it's better than running around half naked in the getup you were wearing. Who's idea was that anyway?"

"Do you mind?"

"Oh, you want some privacy? Well let me leave then. Just so you know the only reason I came in here to give you this instead of letting your boyfriend do it is because he's been asleep ever since we pulled you out of the tub and when I tried to wake him up this morning he nearly ripped me in two again." Dante said then closed the door.

_"I can't explain it either." _Taiko thought opening the box and removing white and powder blue dress. _"Then again why should I be able to? It's not as if I know him or what might possibly be going through his mind. If you were here this afternoon and saw the expression on his face as we talked about you… but it still doesn't make since. Why would he…" _Taiko paused in her thoughts after carefully removing some very frilly underwear from tissue paper and the note that accompanied them.

You have no idea the number of nasty stares I had to endure from middle aged women while shopping for these so you better like them.

And by the way you owe me big time.

Dante

_"Ugh! Why you..! What a jerk!" _Taiko thought as she hurriedly put her cloths on then ran out of the room.

"About time." Dante said turning to face Taiko who had just came into the room. "We were just discussing what we should have for lunch and poor Ryu here can't seem to make up his mind without your help."

"That's not what I said." Ryu grumbled.

"Help him out." Dante said in mock baby talk tone. "Pizza or Chinese take out."

"What?" Taiko uttered forgetting her anger.

Dante shook his head. Since neither of you understand the concept of delivery I'm ordering Chinese." He said picking up the phone.

Ryu sighed.

"What's wrong?" Taiko him while Dante placed an order large enough to feed twelve people.

"I can't eat anything."

"You have seemed kind of depressed ever since I met you but you have to eat something." Taiko said. _"Come to think of it I've never seen him eat anything at all."_

"No, I mean I can't eat in this form. All I end up doing is throwing it back up."

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Yes."

"Oh, Ryu…"

"When the food gets here I think I'll take a nap." Ryu said then left the room.

Dante hung up the phone looking over his shoulder at Taiko.

"What?" Taiko asked once she noticed he was staring at her.

"Now that we're alone I want to ask you a few things." Dante said sitting down across from her.

"Like what?"

"Exactly what are you?"

"I don't know." Taiko said looking away from him.

"So, what about that guy?"

"Why didn't you ask him?"

"I did, but he told me the strangest thing. I'm just curious as to what you were going to say."

"I'm sure he told you the truth. Are you done now?"

"No, I forgot to give you this." Dante said handing her a pink ribbon.

Taiko just stared at it.

"It's a ribbon, for your hair." Dante said answering the question that was written all over her face; "what's this for?"

"Thanks." Taiko said tying it into her hair.

"Sorry for being so rough around the edges, but you see I kind of can't help myself."

"Yes you can." Taiko argued.

"No, really I can't. I honestly do try, but it's just in my nature to be mean."

"Why is that?" Taiko asked then the door bell rang."

"That was fast. Talk later. The food's here." Dante said already out the door.

Taiko sweat dropped. _"Something about him just isn't right and Ryu's going to leave me alone with him. Geez, he sure loves to sleep a lot."_ Taiko thought hoping a portal would open in the next few minutes so to avoid any further contact with the demon slayer, but unfortunately it as well over a week before a portal opened taking them to their next destination.

To Be Continued


	12. Dyne Arc: Part I

**Strange Journey**

Dyne Arc: Part I

By Phoenix Hoshika

_"Man, I'm starving." _Taiko thought as she looked at a cluster of grapes just before stuffing them in her mouth.

"What are you doing?" Ryu asked looking back at Taiko suspiciously.

Taiko's body stiffened. She couldn't answer him without spiting out the food in her mouth. "Nothing." Taiko managed to say after a bit of swallowing though her mouth was still plenty full.

"It's okay, you don't have to hide that you're eating from me."

_"Ah! Too obvious. I didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable since he can't eat anything, but it's been two days since I last ate and this is the first food we've come across since then." _Taiko thought swallowing the rest of what was already in her mouth, but something went down the wrong way and she started choking. _"Oops." _Taiko thought falling over and blacking out.

When she came to Ryu was staring down at her.

"Are you okay?" He asked panic and worry written all over his face.

"Yeah." Taiko answered sitting up and coughed.

"Don't be so greedy next time." Ryu said sighing with relief.

Taiko sweat dropped then sighed. _"Guess was over doing it." _She thought.

"I managed to get the fruit out but you weren't breathing and there was nothing I could do to help." Ryu added wearily. _"I can't use mouth to mouth because if I breathe too hard it would have turned into fire. All I can do is destroy things in this form." _

"Ryu." Taiko said distracting him from his thoughts. "Thanks. I just wish I wasn't such a bother."

"Don't worry about it. I don't mind, Taiko. I like having you around."

"Really?" Taiko asked uncertain if Ryu was just saying so to make her feel better.

Ryu nodded with a slight smile. He was completely caught off guard with Taiko hugged him and nearly fell over backwards. "Taiko? What's wrong?" Ryu asked noticing she was crying.

"I'm just really relieved."

"Why?"

"Because all this time I wasn't completely sure you really wanted me traveling with you."

"It's kind of self serving." Ryu said looking away from her.

Taiko let go of him a quizzical expression on her face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean if I had not met you I probably would still be on that planet going wild. You being with me reminds me that I'm a person; it's harder to forget."

"You really are a good person." Taiko said then kissed him on the cheek. When Ryu looked at her Taiko doubled back. _"Why is he looking at me like that?" _Taiko thought anxiously. _"Is he upset because I kissed him?"_

Ryu blinked his heart skipping a beat. How long had he been out? He couldn't even remember what happened just a few seconds agao. "Taiko?" He said looking at her wondering why she seemed so frightened.

"It's nothing. I'm sorry." She apologized then stood up.

"Sorry? For what?" Ryu asked standing as well.

"I… never mind." Taiko said trotting off. _"I've seen that look before and usually something ends up dying. Why was he looking at me that way? That really scared me. Maybe I'm just imagining things, why would he all of a sudden want to kill me?"_ Taiko thought then stopped in her tracks realizing that she had left Ryu behind. "Ryu?" Taiko called feeling as if she was being watched but the dragon was nowhere in sight. Looking up in a tree Taiko saw a figure in a black hooded robe and gasped. _"What the- Who the hell is that!" _Taiko thought flying up to it and giving chase when it started running.

"Hey you!" Taiko shouted but the figure kept moving, running over the branches and thick, thorny vines as if they were smooth ground. _"It's fast, but…" _Taiko thought speeding up until the figure was in arms' reach then tackled it to the ground. "Got you." Taiko said keeping a tight hold on it. "Now just who are you?" Taiko demanded turning the figure over and removing the hood and as soon as she did the person kicked her and took off.

"Damn it, that hurt!" Taiko exclaimed holding her side as she sat up. "Now, where did he go?" Taiko wondered out loud.

"Taiko!" Ryu shouted rushing to her side. "Why did you run away?"

"I was chasing someone." Taiko said grunting. _"He hit me really hard I can barely stand up. That bastard." _

"What happened? Are you okay?" Ryu asked helping Taiko to her feet. "Where did they go?"

"I don't know he got away." Taiko said breathing heavily. "There is a city that looks like it's a couple of days away from here. I bet that's where he went. Let me see if I can spot him from the sky." Taiko said taking off.

After a while she returned to find Ryu pulling up the grass blade by blade.

"Damn, he got away." Taiko grumbled.

"Do you want to go to that city?" Ryu asked standing up.

"Yeah." Taiko answered. "Ryu do you think anything bad will happen?"

"I don't know, maybe."

"I was thinking the same thing."

"And you still want to go?"

"I do. I don't like being spied on and I want to know why." Taiko said gently rubbing her aching side.

It did take them two days to reach the city and even as they came to the gates they were being watched.

"Welcome to our fair city," said one of the two guards wearing thick chain mail as they entered the gates. The town looked as if it were right from medieval Europe.

"Wow look at this place." Taiko said looking around.

Ryu was just happy to be there since everyone greeted them with a "Good day" or "Hello" and were not at all frightened by his appearance. The city they entered seemed to be a truly peaceful place.

"That's them." A soldier said then Ryu and Taiko suddenly found themselves surrounded by at least two dozen heavily armed guards.

"What's going on?" Ryu demanded.

_"And just when I thought we were going to have it easy." _Taiko thought slumping to the ground.

"Taiko!" Ryu said looking over at her.

"The king has requested your presence in his castle as his personal guests. Please come with us." A middle aged soldier said sternly.


	13. Dyne Arc: Part II

A/N: I changed the ending of the previous chapter around a some, so if this if you've been following the story since my last update and how this chapter starts doesn't make any since that's why. Sorry for any confusion. '

**Strange Journey **

By Phoenix Hoshika

Dyne Arc: Part II

"Where are you going? We haven't shown you off yet." The woman with green eyes said.

"That's right." The woman with brown eyes chimed in.

"We should show her to the king and see what he thinks before we do anything else." The woman with gray eyes said.

"Oh good idea!" The youngest of them agreed. "Maybe after seeing what we did with her he'll let me design something for him." The girl said excitedly.

"You're inexperienced. What makes you think the king would let you design his clothing?" The woman with gray eyes said angrily.

"Well…" The girl stammered. "Because I'm younger and more in the know about modern fashion you old hag!"

"I don't care who he let's design his clothes I just want to see him." The woman with green eyes said as the woman with gray eyes and the girl continued to argue.

"Oh, yeah. We have to make an appointment to see him anyway and besides that doesn't he have a "Do not disturb" order in place for the rest of this week?" The woman with brown eyes said and all chatter and arguing amongst the women came to a halt and they all let out a defeated sigh.

"Hey." The youngest said looking around. "Where did she go?"

"Who cares?" The woman with gray eyes said as they all walked away the cloud of defeat hanging heavily over them.

Taiko had hid behind a large drape and was anxiously watching them the whole time and sighed with relief once they were out of sight. "Thank God."

"Indeed, but it looks like I'll have to find better hiding places."

Taiko nearly shrieked hearing the second voice as she fell from behind the oversized curtain. "_Freakin' creep so that's where he had disappeared to." _Taiko thought as she lay on the floor shaking from the sudden fright.

"Did I scare you?" The man asked smiling.

"No!" Taiko lied quickly but unsteadily coming to her feet only to end up back on the floor.

The man turned away giggling.

"Stop laughing at me." Taiko said utterly embarrassed.

"You just look so funny falling over like that." The man said continuing to laugh. Taiko remained on the floor her face turned three different shades of red. "I haven't laughed like that in a long time." The man said after a few minutes.

"Are you sure you're finished?" Taiko asked feeling completely made a fool of.

The man nodded even though his face still smiling as if he would start laughing at her again. "Here." He said holding his hand out to her. Taiko hesitantly took it and he pulled her up to her feet.

"What's your name anyway?" Taiko asked as they started to walk.

The man stopped moving and gave Taiko a quizzical stare.

"What is it?" Taiko asked feeling uncomfortable.

"My name is Dyne." The man answered. "Yours is Taiko right?"

"Yeah, but how did you know?"

"Is it not what the man you were with called you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"I saw you when you first entered the city."

"Hmph, I knew it you were spying."

"Well, that time I was." The man admitted. "I wanted to know the name of the pretty woman who broke my ribs.

"I said I was sorry." Taiko said turning her face from him blushing. "_What's wrong with me?" _Taiko thought berating herself. "_He's cute he's really cute, but…" _Taiko thought quickly regaining her composer and facing him.

"What are you sneaking around for? Are you a thief or something?

"Well, actually…" Dyne said then paused for a moment. "Yes I am." He gleefully answered.

"Figures."

"Are you going to turn me in?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Well, I don't know who this king is that claims me and Ryu are here as his guests but it seems fishy. For all I know he could be having trouble deciding whether or not to torture us to death or to just put in front of a firing squad." Taiko said.

"Why would you think that?" Dyne asked curiously.

"Well, he 'invited' us but I haven't seen him yet, at least." Taiko added. "_Maybe Ryu has met him already. That would explain why he hasn't come for me or why this place hasn't gone up in flames." _Taiko thought as they walked out onto a balcony.

"Are you really that suspicious?"

"Well, maybe if something like that hadn't happened to me just a short time ago maybe I wouldn't be thinking this way, but because of that I can't help but feel paranoid."

"I see." Dyne said then suddenly changed the subject. "Is the man you came her were with your husband?"

"What? No!" Taiko said caught off guard.

"Fiancé? Boyfriend?" Dyne continued to question.

"Huh? No." Taiko answered blushing.

"But you want him to be, do you not?" Dyne asked moving so that he could get a better look at Taiko's face since she had turned away from him.

"That's none of your business!" Taiko answered. "But you know for some reason everyone keeps saying that." She added in much calmer tone.

"Why do you think that is so?"

"I think mostly because people are assuming too much and maybe because we're always together. To be honest ever since I've met him this is the longest we've been apart." Taiko said sounding almost sad.

"Haven't you only been in the castle a few hours?"

"How long have you been spying on us anyway?" Taiko asked figuring he had been watching them the entire time and sighed no longer caring. "The only times I've left him was to take a bath or find food and even then the only times I'm ever alone are the fifteen minutes I use to clean up because other than that despite saying he'll wait for me to come back he always follows me."

"_I know because I can feel him watching me."_ Taiko thought.

"So you are saying he won't leave you alone?"

"No, it's nothing like that. I'm actually the one who won't leave him alone."

_"Why am I telling him all of this? Saying it out loud like that makes me hate myself for being so clingy." _Taiko thought. "I guess he just feels like he has to keep an eye on me." She continued. "_Because despite being as strong as I am I can't fight worth anything._ _I bet that's why."_ Taiko thought looking down at her hands.

"So you two are just friends?"

"Yeah." Taiko answered.

"You never…" Dyne said trailing off.

"Never?" Taiko said looking up at him.

"So, you two never…"

Taiko gave him a quizzical look for a second before she understood what he was saying. "No! Pervert!" Taiko said running away from him.

Dyne was going to chase after her to apologize but saw the guards and ducked back out onto the balcony_. "Did they see me?"_ He wondered his heart pounding. "_I guess not." _He thought as he listened to the foot steps disappearing. "_I've been behaving a little careless." _ Dyne thought before jumping into the air and quickly scaling the wall to an open window above.

Ryu sat on the plush oversized bed in the room the guards had taken him to not sure if he should go look for Taiko or take advantage of the soft feather mattress. _"She'll be okay."_ Ryu thought then laid down and went to sleep. It was five hours later when a strange presence awaken him, perhaps not so much a strange presence, but certainly a bothersome one as far as he was concerned.

_"Why is there an animal in here?"_ Ryu wondered opening his eyes to see a man looking down at him.

"Hi." The man said with a smile and a slight wave.

Ryu took a half hearted swipe at him that would have probably been fatal if the man had not quickly moved out of the way.

_"Barely made it."_ He thought looking down at his ripped shirt then sighed with relief. "That was close. Were you trying to kill me?"

"No." Ryu answered scratching his head not really caring if he had. Ryu couldn't quite put his finger on it but something about the man irritated him.

"Hmm, I don't really too much care either way." The man said then paused. "No I do care, but it wouldn't have been a wise thing to do."

"What do you mean?" Ryu asked becoming more agitated.

"Everyone would be extremely upset with you." The man said with a slight smile that quickly faded and for a split second he looked very sad.

"Who are you?" Ryu asked even though he had a pretty good idea.

"Do I really I have to say?"

"No." Ryu answered heavily.

"Good, because besides not liking having to point out the obvious I hate having to make those kind of declarations." The man said pouring a drink of water into a cup from the pitcher on the table near the center of the room that was almost overflowing with food. "You haven't eaten a single thing; aren't you hungry?" He asked then drank the water in the cup.

"I don't mean to be rude but I can't eat any of that stuff."

"Don't worry about it; it's far too much for one person to eat alone anyway." The man said taking a hand full of grapes and putting a few of them in his mouth. "I just didn't want to be rude so I told them to give you plenty." He continued talking with a mouth full. "But it looks like they over did it."

"Yeah." Ryu answered suddenly feeling depressed.

"What's the look for?" The king asked noticing Ryu's expression. "You don't mind do you?"

"No. It's nothing like that." Ryu answered. "You're just annoying me." He said then sweat dropped. He didn't mean to say so out loud but couldn't help himself. The truth was Ryu was so annoyed by his presence he wanted to take another swing at him just because and was battling with himself not to do just that.

At first it seemed as if the king didn't hear what Ryu had said since he seemed to busy stuffing his face to pay attention to him, but after a few minutes he turned and smiled at him. "I'm glad."

Ryu sweat dropped again.

"I don't like you either." The king said walking to the door.

"I really wasn't aiming to hurt you." Ryu said and thought that may have been try for that moment I was certain that if he did take another swing at him it would definitely be on purpose.

"Don't worry about that. From the moment I saw you I couldn't stand you."

"Then why-" Ryu started but was cut off.

"Does it really matter? You are my guest for as long as you wish to stay" He answered then left.

Ryu shook his head. _"I suppose there is no point worrying too much about him, but he's still annoying."_ Ryu thought then laid back down returning to his sleep.

It was night fall by the time Taiko was able to get away from the guards that she had ran into earlier that day. They had taken her to a rather luxurious room much like the one Ryu was in but they kept a rather vigilant guard over her and wouldn't let her out the door without insisting upon escorting her where ever it was she wanted to go and when she asked about Ryu they refused to tell her anything as to his whereabouts. Since they were patrolling around outside as well there was no way Taiko could go out the window without them seeing her making nightfall the only chance of escaping, that is if they didn't have strobe lights or any other means of spotting her. Fortunately they didn't making it a bit easier for her to find Ryu.

_"Look at him just sleeping like a baby. It really pisses me off! Doesn't he care about our situation?"_ Finally deciding to wake him up then stopped. _"Do I really want to do that? I really don't think he knows friend from foe when he's sleeping."_ Taiko thought then sighed feeling defeated.

"Taiko?" Ryu said waking up.

Taiko nearly jumped out of her skin. "You jerk!" Taiko said rather loudly.

Ryu squinted one eye at her. "What's your problem?"

Taiko covered her mouth suddenly releasing how loud she was. "Do you think anyone heard me?" She asked in a much lower tone.

Ryu looked around. "No." He said still wondering why she was so angry.


	14. Dyne Arc: Part III

**Strange Journey **

**By Phoenix Hoshika**

**The Dyne Arc: Part III**

Taiko lay at the head of the bed sleeping soundly under the covers while Ryu was at the foot of the bed asleep, that is until he rolled over and fell on the floor with a loud thud. Setting up Ryu looked around wildly wondering what happened, but quickly figured it out. He was relieved to see that Taiko was not disturbed and sat down on the bed sighing with relief. Looking over his should out at the sunny sky then back over at Taiko he wondered if he should wake her up. Deciding not to Ryu looked up at the ceiling wondering what to do.

"Ryu?" Taiko said waking up.

Ryu's heart skipped a beat when she called him, he was on the verge of falling asleep when the unexpected sound of her voice startled him back awake. "What is it?"

"What time is it?" Taiko asked sleepily.

"I think it's past noon." Ryu answered.

"Ah, okay." Taiko said closing her barely opened eyes. "Past noon!" She shouted abruptly sitting up.

Ryu stared at her for a moment then turned back around.

"You don't think they noticed that I'm gone do you?" Taiko asked coming to sit beside him.

"Probably not." Ryu said wondering that himself. "If we need to get going let me know." Ryu said crawling to the center of the bed.

"Hey, you aren't going back to sleep are you?" Taiko asked slightly annoyed.

"There isn't anything else to do." Ryu replied laying back down.

"I just want to know something before you go back to sleep; what does the king look like?" Taiko asked but received no response. "Ryu?" Taiko called but still the dragon was silent. "Ryu?" Taiko said again turning around to find him sound asleep. _"He looks so harmless." _Taiko thought then turned back around bringing her knees to her face. _"What should I do now?" _She wondered.

After a while of debating whether or not to leave the room Taiko finally decided to take a look out the window. _"Wow, there aren't even half as many guards running around as there were yesterday. Wonder why that is?" _Taiko thought. _"I guess I could try going back to my room." _Taking a step out the window Taiko flew up to the top of the castle landing of the roof. _"I can't remember which one it was!" _Taiko thought frowning.

"Why are you running around in a night gown?" Someone asked and Taiko nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Oh, it's just you." Taiko said when she saw it was speaking to her then turned her attention to staring down below.

Dyne sweat dropped. "I wasn't trying to offend you before." He said awkwardly.

"So do people around here always ask such crude questions or is it just you?" Taiko asked not really paying him any attention as she tried to remember which room she was in.

"I'm sorry." Dyne apologized.

_"I can't think with him talking to me." _Taiko said then looked at Dyne who had come to stand beside her.

"It's a nice view isn't it?" He said climbing up on the waist high wall that was around the roof.

"Sure." Taiko replied half heartedly. "Hey, why are you still hanging around here? Are you trying to get caught? What kind of thief are you? Not a very good one if you ask me." Taiko said.

Dyne sweat dropped. "I haven't decided what I'm going to steal yet."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. How can someone like you afford to be so lax about these kind of things?"

"I guess you're right; I am not a very good thief, am I?" Dyne said feeling uncomfortable.

"Well, you've managed to spend all this time lurking around and not end up in prison or anything, but I still don't get why you would sneak into a place like this and not have at least some idea of what you want?"

"Because it's fun." Dyne answered with a smile.

"I'm not advocating what you're doing, but if you keep doing this you're going to get caught sooner or later so shouldn't you just do what you're going to do and run?"

Dyne smiled.

"What's that look for?" Taiko asked.

"You say you don't advocate what I'm doing but you won't turn me in. Thank you."

"Don't thank me. It's just that I have no reason to turn you in."

"Are you still concerned?" Dyne asked pointedly.

"That the king of this place is some kind of homicidal trigger happy maniac?"

"Yeah." Dyne confirmed sweat dropping.

"Of course!"

"If that were true don't you think he would have done something already?" Dyne asked leaning over on the wall so that he was face to face with Taiko.

"Well…" Taiko begin blushing and turned away from him. "Who knows what he's planning. I mean he could be too busy with other things and so the moment he gets a break I could find myself being used for target practice on his private gun range or something."

"The king here advocates peace and harmony. Even if someone commits a serious offense the worse that could happen to them is life in prison and even then…" Dyne said abruptly stopping.

"You sound so passionate when you speak about him, yet here you are plotting to steal from him? Are you just bored or something?" Taiko asked turning around smiling.

Dyne gave an exasperated groan. "You have no idea."

"Figures," Taiko said sweat dropping.

"Hm?" Dyne asked curiously.

Well, from what I saw people here are pretty laid back as if they don't have a care in the world.

"They don't." Dyne answered still leaning back on the wall. "The king makes sure everyone has a home, food to eat and something to do."

"He's either a really great man an utter control freak." Taiko commented.

Dyne sweat dropped again. "Hey, what do you think he looks like?"

"Don't tell me all this time you've been sneaking around here and you haven't seen him."

"No, I've seen him plenty of times. I'm just wondering what you think he might look like since you said you never saw him."

"Well…" Taiko started as she begin to pace around slowly. "He must be an old man gray hair and a beard. Perhaps he's tall with broad shoulders, you know someone who looks old but has a healthy body not all bent over and shaky like a withering tree. Basically I think he looks like someone you can put your trust in like a grandfather or an older uncle.

"That's a nice image." Dyne said walking beside her.

"That's just based on what you have told me about him."

"Is that so?" Dyne said sounding a little let down. His eyes swelled three times their size as Taiko told him what she thought the king might really be like using her words to paint an image of a devil with a red tail pitch fork in hand all the while meticulously looking over model of the city, the castle towering ridiculously high over all the other buildings in the city.

"That's kinda based on what you told me too." Taiko added.

"How so?" Dyne wondered out loud the sweat drop seeming to be a permanent fixture on his head.

"I really don't know what to expect when I see him."All I know if I'm really a guest like he claims he won't mind if I go around sight seeing." Taiko said flying off the roof then turned around to speak to Dyne one last time. "Hey, if you get caught and I'm still around maybe I'll come visit you in the dungeon." Taiko said smiling.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means if you get caught and I'm still around I'll stop by just to say I told you so." Taiko said sticking out her tongue then flew away.

Dyne remained on the roof looking down at the city. Sighing he turned around to come face to face with a creature no bigger than an infant, its long red hair flowing over its tiny wings as it hovered in front of him.

"Miss me?" It asked hugging Dyne's face and kissing him on the lips.

"Bleah!" Dyne said in disgust knocking the tiny naked being away from him then fell to the floor with both hands over his mouth as he tried to keep from vomiting.

"Believe me when I say that was three times as bad for me as it was for you." The being said nearly gagging itself. "Ew, you put your tongue in my mouth!" It wailed.

"I did not!" Dyne said angrily with one hand still over his mouth his eyes blazing.

"Oh yeah, I forget that was me." The being said with a laught then floated over to Dyne who was shuddering. "Are you crying?" I'm the one who's going to have nightmares for the next ten decades to come."

"I'm sure you will." Dyne said regaining his composure and standing up. "What do you want?"

"Oh my, did I make you angry?" It asked mockingly as it flew out of Dyne's immediate reach.

"I'm only going to warn you once Dynie-Pooh..." It said smirking as another one like itself with yellow-green hair snuck up behind Dyne and loosened a jar of flees dumping it on him.

Feeling the biting of the small insects Dyne begin scratching. Suddenly realizing someone was behind him he quickly turned around and the yellow-green haired being hurriedly flew to the side of the red haired one.

"Niyo!" It whispered harshly. "You were supposed to dump them on him after I told him what I was warning him about!"

"Sorry, but did it really make a difference since we were going to dump them on him anyway?" Niyo asked smiling mischievously at the itching Dyne.

"Hehe, you're right." The red haired being said smirking.

"Later, Dynie-Pooh." It said blowing him a kiss then disappearing with its friend into thin air.

"You little monsters, what have you done!" Dyne questioned even though no one was there to answer and he had a pretty good idea of what had happened. "Aaagh!" Dyne yelled running off the roof scratching at the sides of his head furiously.

After making a hasty trip to the town's pet store and buying flee powder and shampoo and nearly everything thing they had for getting rid of and preventing flees Dyne quickly found his way into a tub bathing himself in the shampoo that burned everywhere he had scratched himself and then some. He washed himself several times in a row before finally getting out of the tub and applying a preventative treatment to his scalp and other parts of his body (which he'd have to do everyday for the next ten days to come) then wearily went and collapsed into his bed. His skin burned and his room smelled of smoke since he had immediately thrown the clothing he was wearing into the fireplace perpendicular to the bed. Sighing Dyne closed his eyes and slept an uncomfortable sleep. It wasn't the first time he had been subjected to such torturous treatment. He vowed the first time it happened he'd get revenge on the creatures for what they done to him, but it seemed just like last time this time they were able to get the better of him. Though what they had done had made him extremely angry he was able to find peace in the fact that he had all the time in the world to get them back and get them back good.

To Be Continued


	15. Chapter 15

**Strange Journey**

**By **

**phoenix Hoshika**

**The Dyne Arc: Part IV**

Taiko flew aimlessly over the city occasionally waving whenever someone looked up and waved at her and grimacing whenever someone looked up and laughed her, more than likely because she was flying around town in a nightgown.

_"I'm getting tired of this. It's too boring. It would have been great if I could walk around town with Ryu, but I don't think he's been out of that bed since we arrived at the castle." _Taiko thought angrily as she started to feel abandoned. _"I know! I'll find that Dyne and hang out with him. He seems interesting enough and he seems more interested in holding a conversation with me than Ryu ever was."_ Taiko thought as she turned around to head back toward the castle then stopped. _"Why am I expecting him to be there? He does seem to be there a lot, but it's not like he lives there or anything. After all he said he was a thief. I'm getting depressed now." _Taiko thought wearily. _"I guess I'll just go see if I can find my room and stay in there like a good girl since there isn't anything else for me to do."_

"Hey, do you always fly with your eyes closed?" Taiko heard someone speaking to her and opened her eyes. In front of her was the red haired being Dyne had just encountered.

"Huh? Who are you?" Taiko asked.

"I'm Nyojo, nice to meet cha." The creature said smiling. "You look bored."

"I am." Taiko sighed.

"How about you come with us?"

"Us?" Taiko repeated.

"Yes, us. My friend is behind you." Nyojo smiled.

Taiko turned around just in time to see a large mallet coming down on her.

"Niho!" Nyojo growled struggling to keep Taiko from falling to the ground. "Was that really necessary? We could have just blindfolded her."

"Sorry, hehe." The creature with long yellow hair grinned uncomfortably as it stuck the mallet behind its back making it disappear into thin air.

"Grrr, never mind that, just help me!" Nyojo cried and with that the two creatures disappeared with an unconscious Taiko.

A few hours later Taiko woke up with a throbbing headache. Sitting up Taiko put her hand to her head moaning.

"How do you feel?" Niho asked. "Sorry, I had to hit you over the head like that."

Nyojo and a purple haired being groaned and gave their companion angry piercing stares. Nyojo then flew over to Niho smacking him/her in the head with a smaller mallet.

"Waaah! Why did you do that, Nyojo? You're so mean!" Niho wailed.

"Hmph! Now you know how Taiko feels." Nyojo replied caring less about the waterfall of tears Niho was crying. "Taiko please don't be mad at us." Nyojo said sweetly. "It was all that one's fault!" He/she said pointing at the still vehemently crying Niho.

"What's going on here?" Taiko said still dazed.

"Look what you've done! You moron!" Nyojo hissed.

"But, I didn't mean too!" Nijo replied in between sobs.

"I brought water from the spring like you asked me too, Nyojo." A brown haired being said huffing and puffing as it flew over to the small group.

"Good work, Nana. Unlike someone here I can always depend on you." Nyojo said shooting Niho a daggered glance. "Here drink this." He/she said handing Taiko the cup Nana was carrying.

"Um…" Taiko uttered hesitating to take the drink.

"Please, it's okay." The creature said offering her the cup again.

Reluctantly Taiko took the cup and drank the water that was in it. "Wow, my headache is gone," Taiko exclaimed surprised and relieved.

"The water here can heal anything." Nyojo said. But, it only works on beings like us."

"Huh?" Taiko said looking at the four tiny creatures. "What are you guys?"

"We're faeries." Nana responded.

"So, you're saying I'm just like you guys?" Taiko asked wondering if she would one day shrink to their size and run around with no clothing on.

"That's a little difficult. To explain." Nyojo spoke up. "You know how a swan can't lay chicken eggs or how a dove can't lay eagle eggs, but they all are birds? Well, your relation to us is kind of the same."

"Uh-huh…" Taiko said not really processing what the faerie was saying. "So I'm a faerie too?"

"No, a f-e-a-r-i-e is one of us. Unlike you we have no gender and are born from cocoons." Nyojo begin explaining.

"Then where do the cocoons come from?" Taiko asked curiously.

Nyojo sighed. "I was getting to that. On a full moon in that field over there," Nyojo said pointing into the distance behind Taiko. "Is where we are born. The cocoons magically appear and when that happens we pick them from the ground and take them home to nurture and care for them."

"So what you're saying is you guys are basically bugs." Taiko said with a deadpan expression.

"We are not bugs!" Nyojo screamed. "Ehehe, excuse me." He/she laughed uncomfortably regaining his/her composure.

"Um, then what's inside the cocoons?" Taiko asked still not convinced.

The faeries all looked at each other confused. "Don't know." They all said at once."

"But whatever it is it comes out as one of us." Nyojo added. "Now will you hush and pay attention? You are a f-a-i-r-y. You guys are human forms exposed to a tremendous amount of magic power. In other words you are created from magic, however, you are different."

"How so?" Taiko asked to Nyojo's annoyance.

"Stop interrupting!" Nyojo yelled.

"You really shouldn't loose your temper like that, Nyo." Nana said shyly.

Nyojo growled.

"Please forgive Nyo. That one can be a little grumpy at times." Nana apologized on his/her friend's behalf.

"Listening to Nyojo rattle on like this is boring I'm going to get something to eat and find something fun to do, seeya." Niho said then flew off.

Nyojo was hyperventilating until getting slapped by Nana. "Sorry, I had to do that but you were getting out of hand." Nana said with tearful eyes.

"It's okay. Thanks." Nyojo replied then continued. "You see Taiko, every millennium when a chosen few wish upon the brightest star in the sky they become a fairy, those fairies have unlimited power and are sometimes mistaken for gods.

Taiko fell over laughing. "Oh, please. Give me a break. I can barely fly straight and you're telling me I'm some kind of super powered mythical creature? A lot of weird stuff has happened to me, but some things are just too unbelievable."

"Stubborn girl." Nyojo muttered. "Listen, we've been watching you ever since you came to this world and it's not the first time we've encountered someone like you and besides this is knowledge passed down from faerie to faerie for countless centuries. Are you questioning our accent wisdom?" Nyojo asked his/her eyes on fire.

Taiko sweet dropped. "No." She answered hoping to calm the faerie's flaring temper. _"Still, it's just too unbelievable. If I had so much power I could've helped Ryu return home well before now. That man I met when all this mess started did say I was just like him, but if that was the case why can't I do any of the crazy things he did? He made objects appear out nowhere and transported us across the universe to where ever that place was. I'd thought I'd be happy at least knowing what the heck I am but now that I've been told I can't bring myself to believe it."_

"Hey? Are you awake? Nyojo asked as he/she flew up to meet Taiko's face.

"So, why did you bring me here?" Taiko asked wearily.

"We need your help." Nyojo said beginning to cry along with the others. "There was a really terrible storm and all of our houses got knocked down. Please use your magic to rebuild them." Nyojo said and they all bowed on the ground before her.

"Stop that." Taiko said sweat dropping. "Besides weren't you listening to me? I don't know how to use magic."

"What?" Nyojo uttered devastated. "But I donwanna sleep outside on the ground again!" Nyojo cried.

"I may not be able to use magic, but I can still help you," Taiko said hoping they would calm down.

"Really," Nana asked with tears in his/her eyes.

"Yes." Taiko answered reassuringly.

"Well then we better get started," Nyojo said putting on a hardhat. "Even with your size and strength to help us out this operation will still take a while."

"But, if we put our all into it I'm sure we'll finish in no time."

"That's the spirit Nana," Nyojo encouraged.

It was some time before the faeries returned Taiko to the city. Again they took the liberty of knocking her out, but instead of a mallet the faerie that did the deed used sleeping powder. A few hours later Taiko found herself waking up in an alley. Stopping at a street corner Taiko yawned, closing her eyes as she did so. When she opened them a small group of soldiers were standing before her.

"Please come with us." One of them said abruptly and the soldiers immediately took hold of Taiko.

The soldiers wasted no time making their way back to the castle as they rushed by curious on lookers.

"Take her to the wardrobe room," the guard at the castle gate ordered.

"Yes, sir." The two soldiers holding Taiko said then marched away as the others dispersed to attend to their regularly assigned duties.

"The wardrobe room," Taiko said out loud not sure where she was being taken.

"You've been there before," the soldier holding her left arm said.

"Hey, do you guys have to be so rough," Taiko asked as they rushed down the long hallway.

"Too much welcome leads to a bitter farewell." The left guard answered.

"Huh?"

"He means until we know if you are our enemy or not we're not letting our guard down." The man on the right answered.

"You mean me and my friend are your prisoners." Taiko said bitterly.

"No," the right guard refuted. "By order of his majesty you are guests, but as the king's guard it is our duty to protect him and this country; we all whole heartedly believe that his majesty being too welcoming for his own good."

"You refer to him with such respect yet you don't trust his judgment. Sounds like you guys are planning a coup."

"Stupid girl," the left guard said.

"Our first priority is to obey the king." The right guard continued. "If he does not validate our concerns then so be it. We don't do anything without his approval."

"So despite calling us guests your king treats us like criminals."

"The best way to keep an eye on something is to keep it in front of your eyes." The left guard stated.

"That's exactly what the king said, more or less." The right guard informed.

"Keep you friends close and your enemies closer, huh," Taiko said as they came to a halt in front of the double doors leading into the wardrobe room. "No wonder he had you guys bring us directly to the castle instead of letting us stay out in the city."

"That may be what he meant and then again maybe not," the right guard said shrugging.

"His majesty is rather eccentric." The left guard said loosening his grip on Taiko's arm.

"The king also said 'make sure they are well taken care of' and that is why we brought you here," the right guard said as both men pushed open the doors. "In you go." The soldier said as they shoved her into the room then immediately closed the doors.

The women were busy sewing, washing and arranging clothing, but all that stopped when they saw Taiko. For a moment everyone just stared at her, but suddenly a terrifying look come into their eyes. Taiko turned to run out of the room just as the brown-eyed seamstress was locking the door.

After the women were done with Taiko the guards, to their disappointment, escorted her back to her room and even though it was still early in the day she immediately went to sleep. Taiko was exhausted and upset. She wanted to see Ryu, she wanted to leave, but she knew already he was in no hurry to do so. Feelings of anxiety and frustration had enveloped her making her rest uneasy. It seemed like ages since the last time she talked to him and the memory of their short conversation was not enough and for all she knew Ryu could have gone through another portal while she was with the faeries. The satisfaction she felt from helping them quickly melted away at the thought of being alone again.

Taiko woke up in the middle of the night shivering; she had not bothered to pull the covers back and her body felt as if a thin layer of ice had settled on it. Hearing the latch on the door click Taiko gasped abruptly sitting up. When she turned around Dyne was standing in the room with his back to the closed door. "Dyne? What are you doing here," Taiko asked not expecting to see him.

"I'm sorry were you sleeping?"

"No." Taiko said looking down at her hands.

"Oh, that's a relief then," Dyne said walking over to the bed. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong." Taiko said not caring to share her thoughts with him.

Dyne sat down on the bed facing her.

"What are you doing here? Stop staring at me and go away." Taiko said lying down with her back to him.

"You have been gone for quite some time. In fact it has been a couple of weeks since I last saw you. If you don't mind my asking, where were you?"

"Huh?" Taiko uttered sitting up. "You still haven't answered my question and how did you get past the guards anyway?"

"What guards?" Dyne asked

"What do you mean what guards?"

"There wasn't anyone outside."

"That's a change." Taiko grumbled. "And what's all this nonsense about me being gone for two weeks? Besides why would you care where I've been?"

"_Grief! This guy has been in my face ever since I got here…" _Taiko thought.

"The best way to keep an eye on something is to keep it in front of both your eyes."

"That's exactly what the king said, more or less."

"Why you…" Taiko exclaimed flying out of the bed. Picking up a small round porcelain vase she threw it at Dyne.

"Whoa," Dyne exclaimed jumping out of the way.

"I can't believe I was so dumb! I bet you were laughing at me the whole time." Taiko yelled.

"Only a little." Dyne said slightly smiling then ducked as another object was hurled at his head. "But I had no intention for you to be under that impression for this long."

"Then why did you lie to me in the first place," Taiko asked placing her feet on the floor.

"I was not lying when I told you I was bored."

"So you make a fool of me for your entertainment?

"That was not my intention. I just wanted to be someone else for a little while," Dyne said then jumped clear across the room landing right in front of Taiko who stepped back slightly startled by the sudden motion. "I am sorry." Dyne said kneeling with his bowed.

"Are you serious? I mean how can I accept such a humble apology when you've been treating us like crime suspects; you say we are guests yet you have guards watching us like hawks. You yourself even took the time out to keep tabs on us."

Dyne then stood up with a peculiar expression on his face. "The land here is basically nothing more than a vast wilderness of thorn vines and bushes. The ground is hard and it takes great effort to cultivate anything on it. There really isn't anything of value here. All of this makes it highly unlikely anyone would want to invade, even so considering these poor conditions do you not think it odd to find two people out in such an environment?"

"You talk as if you guys are the only ones on this entire continent." Taiko said fuming.

"We are." Dyne answered solemnly. "And it has been centuries since anyone from the other side has come here."

"I see." Taiko said calming down. "Now I understand why you would be suspicious of us, but we didn't come here to disrupt things. I wish there was a way to convince you of that."

"Don't worry. I may not have been so certain before, but I am certain now that you and your friend mean us no harm. The guards shouldn't be a problem from now on." Dyne said smiling as he began to leave the room.


End file.
